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THE 



BLESSED EUCHARIST 



OUR 



GREATEST TREASURE. 



BY 
MICHAEL MULLER, C. S.S. R. 
priest of the Congregatiait of i^e Post ^olg |lebeemer» 



" la the midst of you standeth One Whom you know not — the latchet of 
Whose shoe I am not worthy to loose."— John i, 26, 27. 



BALTIMORE : 
KE L LY & PI E T, 

No. 174 BALTIMORE STREET. 

1868. 




V 



^> 



<> 






^^^ 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1867, by 
KELLY & PIET, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the 
District of Maryland. 




mijrimatiir: 



MARTINUS JOANNES, 

Archbishop Balio. 



Die 22 October, 1867. 



PROTEST OF THE AUTHOR. 



XN obedience to the decrees of Urban VHI. of holy 
-*- memory, I protest that I do not intend to attri- 
bute any other than purely human authority to all 
the miracles, revelations, graces and incidents con- 
tained in this book ; neither to the titles holy or 
blessed applied to the servants of God not yet can- 
onized, except in cases where these have been con- 
firmed by the Holy Roman Catholic Church and by 
the Holy Apostolic See, of whom I profess myself 
an obedient son ; and, therefore, to their judgment 
I submit myself and whatever I have written in 
this book. 



PREFACE 



My Dear Reader and Brother in Jesus Christ : 

Since the spirit of devotion that has urged me to 
write this book^ animates you to read it and makes 
us the happy children of the same loving Father, 
should you ever hear any person say I might have 
spared myself the labor, there being already so 
many learned and celebrated works which treat of 
this subject, I beg you to answer that our Lord 
Jesus Christ, in the Adorable Sacrament, is such 
an abundant fountain that the more it flows the 
fuller it becomes, and the fuller it is the more it 
flow^s, which signifies that the most Holy Eucharist 
is so great and so sublime a mystery that the more 
we say of it the more remains to be said. If St. 
Alphonsus could say with all truth of the Passion of 
our Lord, '' that eternity will not suffice to meditate 
adequately upon it," we may affirm the same of 
Jesus Christ hidden in the Blessed Sacrament, and 
w^ith a thousand times more justice apply to our 
subject what St. Augustine says in praise of the 
Blessed Virgin, viz: that all the tongues of men, 



8 PREFACE. 

even if all their members were changed into tongues, 
would not be sufficient to praise her as she deserves. 

Worldly lovers are accustomed frequently to men- 
tion and praise those whom they love, that others 
also may praise and applaud them ; how poor and 
weak should we then consider the love of those who 
call themselves lovers of the Blessed Sacrament^ 
and yet who seldom speak of it or think of en- 
deavoring to inspire others with a love of it. The 
true lovers of the most Blessed Sacrament do not 
act thus ; they speak of it, praise it everywhere, 
in public and in private ; whenever it is in their 
power they try to enkindle in the hearts of all those 
ardent flames of love with which they themselves 
burn for their beloved Jesus. 

The object of this little book is, then, to make 
Jesus, in the Blessed Eucharist, more generally 
known and better loved. Our Divine Saviour is 
ready to bestow innumerable graces through this 
Sacrament, which are lost in consequence of the 
ignorance and indifference of men. When the most 
Holy Sacrament of the Altar is not revered and 
loved, scandals will abound, faith will languish and 
the Church mourn. On the other hand, if this Sac- 
rament be worthily frequented, peace will reign in 
Christian hearts, the devil will lose power and souls 
will be sanctified. ^^ As many as received Him to 
them He gave power to be made the sons of God.'' 
(I John, ch. 12.) It has seemed to me that a 



PREFACE. 9 

work explanatorv of the prominent points of this 
mystery, written in a simple and familiar style, 
would greatly contribute to remove the obstacles 
to a right appreciation of this wonderful Sacrament 
of Divine love ; and with this conviction I have 
ventured to lay the following pages before the pub- 
lic, trusting, Avith the blessing of God^ they may 
prove useful to many souls. 

As Almighty God in His goodness imparts His 
favors to His faithful followers in divers w^ays, some- 
times by enlightening their minds in a supernatural 
manner, and even conversing with them familiarly 
as it were, and as the nature of this work is intended 
to be practical, not controversial, I have thought it 
expedient for the edification of pious souls to intro- 
duce into it after the manner of the Holy Fathers, 
both some revelations made to certain saints and 
several miraculous facts concerning this mystery. 
I know there are some persons who, boasting of 
being free from prejudices, take great credit to them- 
selves for believing no miracles but those recorded 
in the holy Scriptures, esteeming all others as tales 
and fables for foolish women. But it will be well 
to remember here a remark of the learned St. 
Alphonsus, who says, ^'that the bad are as ready 
to deride miracles as the good are to believe them ; 
adding that as it is a weakness to give credit to all 
things, so, on the other hand, to reject miracles 
which come to us attested by grave and pious men^ 



10 PREFACE. 

either savors of infidelity \yhicli supposes them im- 
possible to God, or of presumption which refuses be- 
lief to such a class of authors. We give credit to a 
Tacitus^ a Suetonius, and can we deny it without 
presumption to Christian authors of learning and 
probity. There is less risk in believing and receiv- 
ing what is related with some probability by honest 
persons and not rejected by the learned, and which 
serves for the edification of our* neighbor, than in 
rejecting it with a disdainful and presumptuous 
spirit." (Glories of Mary.) Hence Pope Benedict 
XIV., (De Canoni. Sanct.) says : " Though an as- 
sent of Catholic faith be not due to them, they de- 
serve a human assent according to the rules of 
prudence by which they are probable and piously 
credible.'' 

Now should the Eeverend Clergy deem this pub- 
lication ever so little calculated to promote devo- 
tion to the Blessed Sacrament, the compiler will 
believe himself amply rewarded for his labor if they 
encourage its circulation. 

MICHAEL MiJLLER, C. S.S. R. 

St. Alphonsus', Baltimore, Md., 
December 8tb, 1867. 



COnSTTEISTTS- 



Imprimatur I ^ 

Protest of the Author 5 

Preface 7 

Chapter I — The Doctrine of the Real Presence 13 

Chapter II — On the Reverenee due to Jesus Christ in 

the Blessed Sacrament 4B 

Chapter III — On the Love of Jesus Christ in the 

Blessed Sacrament 60 

Chapter IV — On Visiting Jesus Christ in the Blessed 

Sacrament 79 

Chapter V — On the Great Desire of Jesus Christ to 

enter into our Hearts in Holy Communion 97 

Chapter VI — On Preparation for Communion 112 

Chapter VII — On Thanksgiving after Communion 127 

Chapter VIII — On the Effects of Holy Communion... 147 
Chapter IX — The Excuses of those who do not Com- 
municate Frequently 170 

Chapter X — On Unworthy Communion 194 



12 CONTENTS, 

Chapter XI — On Spiritual Communion 213 

Chapter XII— Considerations on the Virtues that Jesus 
Christ Teaches us in the Most Holy Sacrament of 
the Altar 218 

Chapter XIII — The Most Holy Festival of Corpus 
Christi and its Origin 226 

Chapter XI Y — A^dditional Examples Relating to the 
Real Presence 237 

Chapter XY — The Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass... 277 

Chapter XYI — On the Ceremonies of Mass 312 

Chapter XYII — An Exhortation to hear Mass De- 
voutly 323 

Chapter XYIII — Examples Relating to the Holy Sacri- 
fice of the Mass 343 

Hymn 359 

Oblation 360 



THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 



OUR 



xtnitBt mvtnsnxt 



CHAPTER I. 

THE DOCTRINE OF THE REAL PRESENCE. 

A CERTAIN man was once thrown into prison. 
He there suffered so much from hunger, thirst 
and cold, that at last he was almost dead. One day 
the king determined to pay a visit to the captive, in 
order to find out how he bore his sufferings. Hav- 
ing put oft* his royal apparel, he went in disguise to 
the prison, and asked the poor man how he fared ; 
but the prisoner, being very sad and melancholy, 
scarcely deigned to answer him. When the king 
had gone away, the jailor said to the criminal : 
^^Do you know who was speaking to you? It was 
2 



14 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

the king himself.'' ^^The king!" exclaimed the 
captive. ^^ wretch that I am ! If I had known 
that I would have thrown myself at his feet and 
clasped his knees, and I would not have let him 
go until he had pardoned me. Alas L what a favor- 
able opportunity I have lost of freeing myself from 
this dungeon." It was thus the poor captive la- 
mented in anguish and despair ; but all was una- 
vailing. 

I think, dear reader, you understand the meaning 
of this story. The sufferings of this captive repre- 
sent the wretchedness of man's condition on this 
earth . 

Our true country is heaven^ and. as long as we 
are living on earth, we are captives and exiles. We 
are far from Jesus Christ, our King ; far from Mary, 
our good Mother ; far from the angels and Saints 
of heaven, and far from our dear departed friends. 
But very many Christians are also, in another re- 
spect, like the captive of whom I have spoken. 
They do not know Jesus Christ, their true King^ 
who not only visits them, but dwelLs very near 
them. ^^ But," you will ask, 'Miow can Jesus 
Christ dwell near them without their knowing 
Him ?" It is because He has put on a strange gar- 
ment, and appears in disguise. Our Lord Jesus 
Christ abides in two places : in heaven, where He 
shows Himself undisguised, as He is in reality, and 
on earth in the Blessed Sacrament, in which He 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 15 

conceals Himself under the appearance of bread. 
One day a certain nun said to St. Teresa : ^'^ I wish 
that I had lived at the time of Jesus Christy my 
dear Saviour, for then I could have seen how amia- 
ble and lovely He is.'' St. Teresa, on hearing this, 
laughed outright. ''What!" said she, ''do you 
not know, then, dear sister, that the same Jesus 
Christ is stillwith us on earth, that He lives quite 
near us, in our churches, on our altars, in the 
Blessed Sacrament ?" Yes — the Blessed Sacrament, 
or Holy Eucharist, is the true body and blood of 
Jesus Christ, our Lord ; Who is truly, really and 
substantially present under the outward appearances 
of bread and wine. This is indeed a great mys- 
tery ; and the more to confirm your faith in it, I 
will give you some proofs for it from Scripture and 
tradition. The first proof is taken from the sixth 
chapter of the gospel of St. John. Our divine Sa- 
viour knew that if He were to teach the Jevrs and 
His disciples such a new and wonderful doctrine, 
without having first prepared them for it, there 
would be scarcely one who would believe Him. 
When God intends to do something very extraordi- 
nary, He generally prepares men for it by revealing 
to them beforehand what He is about to do. Thus 
we know that when He intended to destroy the 
world by the deluge. He made it known through 
Noah a hundred years before this dreadful event 
took place. Again^ when the Son of God had be- 



16 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

come man, and was about to make Himself known 
as the Eedeemer of the world, He sent St. John the 
Baptist to prepare the people for His coming. • Fi- 
nally, when He intended to destroy Jerusalem, He 
foretold it by the prophets ; and, Jesus Christ has 
also described the signs by which men may know 
when the end of the world is at hand. God acts 
thus with men because He does not wish to over- 
whelm themby His strange and wonderful dealings. 
Hence, when our divine Saviour was about to tell 
the people that He intended to give them His flesh 
and blood as food for their souls, He prepared them 
for this mysterious doctrine by working a very as- 
tounding miracle. This great miracle was the feed- 
ing of five thousand men with five loaves and two 
fishes. The people having witnessed this miracle, 
were all so full of reverence for Jesus Christ that 
they wished to take Him by force and make Him 
king ; but Jesus, perceiving this, fled from them. 
They found him again, however, on the following 
day, and then Jesus took occasion, from the impres- 
sion the miracle had made on them^. to introduce the 
subject of the heavenly food which He was about to 
give to the world. ^^Amen,'' said Jesus, ^^Isay 
to you ; ye seek Me, not because ye have seen signs, 
but because ye have eaten of the loaves and have 
been filled. Labor not for the food which perish- 
eth, but for that which endureth to life everlasting 
which the Son of man will give you.'' (St. John 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 17 

vi.;, 26, 27.) Here He declares that the food He 
was to give them would confer eternal life. Their 
curiosity being excited by these words, they desired 
to know more about this heavenly food, and asked 
what sign He would give them, and whether the 
food He spoke of was better than the manna from 
heaven which God had given their fathers in the 
desert. Then Jesus said to them : ^^ Amen, amen, 
I say to you, Moses gave you not the bread from 
heaven ; but 3Iy Father giveth you the true bread 
from heaven ; for the bread of Grod is that which 
cometh down from heaven and giveth life to the 
world. ^' (Ibid. v. 32, 33.) In these words He 
shows the superiority of this bread to the manna of 
the Old Testament, calling it the '^ true bread from 
heaven,'' and saying that it possesses such wonder- 
ful efficacy as to give life to the world. The Jews, 
hearing of such a wonderful kind of bread, said to 
Him: ^^ Lord, give us this bread always.'' (Ibid. 
V. 34.) Whereupon, He replied : ^^ I am the bread 
of life ; your fathers did eat manna in the desert, 
and died. This is the bread which cometh down 
from heaven, that if any man eat of it, he may not 
die. Jam the living bread which came down from 
heaven ; if any man eat of this bread, he shall live 
forever ; and the bread that I will give is My flesh 
for the life of the world." (Ibid. v. 52.) He that 
eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood, hath life 
everlasting, and I will raise him up on the last day. 
2* 



18 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

For My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink 
indeed. He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My 
blood abideth in Me and I in him/' (Ibid. v. 57.) 
His disciples hearing this, said : ^'^ This saying is 
hard, and who can hear it.'' (Ibid. v. 61.) Jesus, 
knowing that His disciples murmured at this, said 
to them : '^Doth this scandalize you?" (St. John 
V. 62.) Observe, he does not say you are mistaken, 
you do not understand me — no ; on the contrary. 
He insists still more on the necessity of eating His 
flesh and drinking His blood : '^ Amen, amen, I say 
unto you, unless you eat i\\Q flesh of the Son of man 
and drink His blood, you shall not have life in 
you.'' ^^ Many of His disciples," continues the 
Evangelist, '^ hearing this, went away and walked 
no more with Him." Jesus, seeing that they 
would not believe that He was to give them His 
flesh and blood as food for their souls, suffered them 
to go away offended, and when they were gone. He 
said to the twelve: ''Will ye also go away?" 
Then Simon Peter answered in the name of all : 
'' Lord, to whom shall we go ? Thou hast the 
words of eternal life. And we believe and know 
that Thou art the Christ, the Son of God." (Ibid. 
V. 68, 69, 70.) Remark the noble simplicity of the 
apostle's faith. They believe the words of their 
Master without the least hesitation ; they receive 
His words in that sense in which the others had re- 
fused to receive them ; thev receive them in their 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 19 

obvious meaning, as a promise that He would give 
them His real flesh to eat and His real blood to drink ; 
they believe with a full faith, simply because He is 
^^the Christ, the Son of God/' too good to deceive, 
and too wise to be deceived, too faithful to make 
vain promises, and too powerful to find difficulty in 
fulfilling them. From this time forward the disci- 
ples were constantly expecting that Jesus Christ 
would fulfil His promise. At length the long- 
looked-for day came. At the Last Supper. Jesus 
took bread and blessed, and gave to His disciples, 
and said : ^^ Take ye and eat, for this is My body." 
Then taking the chalice He gave thanks and gave 
to them, saying : '' Drink ye all of this, for this is 
3Iy Blood of the JSTew Testament which shall be 
shed for many, for the remission of sins.'' (St. 
Matt. xxvi. 28.) Now in these words we must con- 
sider especially the Speaker, It was God Himself. 
It was the same God Who created heaven and earth 
out of nothing ; Who, in the beginning-, said : 
'^ Let light be made," and in an instant the sun, 
the rnoon and the stars appeared in the heavens ; 
the same God Who once destroyed the whole world, 
with the exception of eight persons, by water ; Who 
destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah by fire from hea- 
ven ; Who, by His servant Moses, wrought so many 
miracles in the sight of Pharaoh, and conducted 
the Israelites out of Egypt, making a dry path for 
them in the midst of the Eed Sea ; — it was the 



20 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

same Gocl^ Jesus Christy Who once changed water 
into wine ; Who gave sight to the blind^ hearing to 
the deaf, speech to the dumb, and life to the dead ; 
Jesus Christ Who ascended into heaven, and Who, 
at the end of the world, will come again with great 
majesty in the clouds of heaven, to'judge the living 
and the dead. He it was, the great Almighty God, 
Who took bread into His most sacred hands, blessed 
and gave to His disciples, saying: '^ Take ye and 
eat: for this is 3Iy Body.'' And no sooner had He 
said: ^'Tliis is My Body^'' than the bread was 
really changed into His Body. He it was Who, in 
the same manner, took the chalice, blessed and gave 
to the disciples, saying : ^^ Drink ye all of it, for 
this is My Blood.'' And no sooner had He said, 
^^ this is My Blood,'' than the wine was really 
changed into His Blood. When God speaks, what 
He commands is done in an instant. As He made 
the sun, the moon and the stars merely by saying : 
^^ Let light be made," so also at the Last Supper, 
by His word alone, He instantaneously changed 
bread into His Body, and wine into His Blood. To 
those who doubt this, we may apply the reproof 
which St. Jane Frances de Chantal once gave to a 
Calvinist nobleman who was disputing with her 
father about the Eeal Presence. She was at that 
time only five years of age, but hearing the dispute, 
she advanced to the heretic, and said : ^^ What, Sir ! 
you do not believe that Jesus Christ is really pres- 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 21 

ent in the Holy Eucharist, and yet He has told us^ 
that He is present. You then make Him a liar. If 
you dared attack the honor of the king, my father 
would defend it at the risk of his life, and even at 
the cost of yours, what have youthen to expect from 
God for calling His Son a liar?'' The Calvinist 
was greatly surprised at the child's zeal, and en- 
deavored to appease his young adversary with pres- 
ents ; but, full of love for her holy faith, she took 
his gifts and threw them into the fire, saying : 
^^ Thus shall all those burn in hell who do not be- 
lieve the words of Jesus Christ." 

St. Paul warmly exhorts the Corinthians to flee 
all communication with idolatry, and to abstain 
from things offered to idols, and he uses the follow- 
ing argument to persuade them : ^^ The chalice of 
blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of 
the Blood of Christ? And the bread which we* 
break, is it not the communion of the Body of the 
Lord?" (1st Cor. x. 16.) Here he expressly says 
that in the Holy Eucharist we communicate and 
partake of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. 
And still further on he says, in the same epistle to 
the Corinthians : ^' Whosoever shall eat this bread, 
or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall 
be guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord." 
Nay, he goes farther and says : ^^ He that eateth 
and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh dam- 
nation to himself, not discerning the Body of the* 



22 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

Lord/' (1st Cor. xi. 29.) How could the Apostle 
declare that any one who received holy communion 
unworthily would eat and drink eternal damnation, 
if such a one did not really receive our Lord ? 
Would it not be absurd to say that a man would 
incur eternal damnation by merely eating a piece of 
breadj or drinking a few drops of wine? But be- 
cause the Apostle, taught by Jesus Christ Himself, 
knew that he who receives holy communion receives 
our Lord Himself, he declared that to receive it un- 
worthily was to be guilty of the Body and Blood of 
Jesus Christ, and consequently to deserve hell-fire. 
Moreo^^er, all the Fathers of the Church teach the 
same doctrine as St. Paul. St. Ignatius, Bishop 
of Smyrna, who lived in the first century, wrote as 
follows to the faithful of that city : '' Because the 
heretics refuse to acknowledge that the Holy Eu- 
charist contains the same flesh which suffered for 
our sins and was raised again to life by God the 
Father, they die a miserable death and perish with- 
out hope.'' Tertuliian says: '' Our flesh is nour- 
ished with the body and blood of Jesus Christ, so 
that our souls are filled with God Himself." 
■'^ Who," asks St. John Chrysostom, ^^will give us 
of His flesh that we may be filled." (Job xxxi. 32.) 
This,- Christ has done, allowing Himself not only to 
T3e seen, but to be touched too, and to be eaten, so 
that our teeth pierce His flesh, and all are filled 
with His love. Parents often give their children to 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 23 

others to nurse them: not so do I, says Christ — I 
nourish you with My flesh and place Myself before 
you. I was willing to become your brother ; for 
your sake I took flesh and blood ; and again I de- 
liver to you that flesh and blood by which I became so 
nearly related to you/' (Homil xlvi.) In like 
manner do all the Fathers of the Church speak that 
have written upon this subject. 

But you will ask : '^Hoio is our Lord present in the 
Holy Eucharist?'' I answer: ^^ Jesus Christ is truly, 
really, and substantially contained under the out- 
ward appearance of bread and wine, i, e., He is pres- 
ent whole and entire^ His body and soul. His flesh and 
His blood, His whole humanity and His whole Di- 
vinity, This is clear from what our Lord said at the 
institution of this holy mystery : ^^ This is My Body,'' 
that is to say, this which I hold in My hand is the 
same body of flesh with which you see me clothed, the 
same body that I have borne for thirty-three years, 
the very body that shall be to-morrow nailed to the 
cross. Moreover, as in Him the human nature was 
inseparably united to the divine. He Himself — His 
whole humanity and divinity — was contained under 
that outward appearance of bread. ^' How is this 
possible ?" you ask. I answer : '' By the Almighty 
power of God." Is it not as easy for Him to change 
bread into His Body, and wine into His Blood, as it 
was for Him to create heaven and earth out of noth- 
ing? It happened once in the Netherlands, that 



"24 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

two ladies, a Catholic and a Protestant, were dis- 
puting on the subject of the Eeal Presence. The 
Protestant asserted that the Eeal Presence was im- 
possible. The Catholic asked her: '^Have you 
Protestants any creed in your religion ?" '^ Oh to 
be sure/' said the Protestant ; and she began to re- 
cite : '^ I believe in God the Father Almighty, Cre- 
ator of heaven and earth." ^^Stop/' said the 
other; ^' that is enough. You say that you believe 
in an all-powerful God, why then do you not believe 
that He can change bread into His Body and wine 
into His Blood ? Is that difficult for Him who is 
Almighty?'' The Protestant had nothing to an- 
swer. A similar argument was once made use of 
by a pious painter named Leonardo. He, one day, 
met in an inn two men, one of whom was a Luthe- 
ran and the other a Calvinist. They were ridicu- 
ling the Catholic doctrine about the Blessed Sacra- 
ment. The Calvinist pretended that by these words, 
^^this is My Body,'' it was only meant that the 
bread signifies the Body of Christ; the Lutheran, 
on the other hand, asserted that this was not true, 
but that they meant that bread and wine, in the 
moment of their reception, became, by the faith of 
the recipient, the Body and Blood of Christ. While 
this dispute was going on, Leonardo took a piece of 
paper and drew the image of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
with Luther on the right hand and Calvin on the 
left. Under the image of our Saviour he wrote the 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 25 

words: ^-^ This is My Body/' Under the figure of 
Calvin he wrote : ^'This signifies My Body;'' and 
under that of Luther : ^^ This becomes My Body in 
the moment that you eat it." Then handing the 
paper to the two disputants^ he said : ''" Which of 
these three is rights our Saviour^ or Calvin, or Lu- 
ther ?" They were struck at the force of the argu- 
ment, and ceased to scoff at the Catholic doctrine. 
Indeed, this objection to the Eeal Presence is but a 
proof of the blindness into which men fall when 
they are led astray by pride, and instigated by the 
devil. The devil has had from the beginning a 
special hatred to this doctrine. In the early ages 
of the Church, he incited Simon the Magician 
and the Manicheans to deny it, and in later times, 
he seduced Berengarius to follow their example ; 
but he never succeeded so well as with Luther, Cal- 
vin, Zwinglius, and the other heresiarchs of the 
sixteenth century. Luther acknowledges himself 
that the devil once appeared to him in a visible 
shape and told him to abolish the sacrifice of the 
Mass, and to deny the Real Presence of our Lord in 
the Blessed Sacrament. And, indeed, this is not 
strange. The devil knows that, according to the 
promise of Jesus Christ, they who receive holy com- 
munion worthily will not fall into his power, but 
will obtain eternal life, and on this account he either 
tempts men to disbelieve the mystery^ or he suggests 
every sort of pretext to keep them from receiving 
3 



26 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

it. But lie himself believes it and trembles. 
Would to God that all men had so strong a faith ! 
After our Lord had changed bread into His Body, 
and wine into His Blood, He added the words : ^^ Do 
this in remembrance of Me.'' 

Now, by these words, He commanded the Apos- 
tles, and their lawful successors, the Catholic bish- 
ops and priests, to consecrate, i. e., to change bread 
and wine into His Body and Blood. ^^Do this,'' 
He says^that is to say, '^do this which I have 
done, as I have changed bread and wine into My 
Body and Blood, so do you also in My name, change 
bread and wine into My Body and Blood." 

This change takes place in the sacrifice of the 
Mass, at the consecration. The moment the priest 
pronounces the words of the consecration over the 
bread and wine, that very instant Jesus Christ is 
present as truly as He is in heaven, with His Body 
and Soul, His humanity and Divinity. After con- 
secration nothing remains of the bread and wine 
except the sensible qualities or appearances. If, 
for instance, the bread is round, its roundness re- 
mains after the consecration ; if it is white, its 
whiteness remains ; if it has a certain taste or qual- 
ity before, that taste or quality continues ; and so 
with the wine ; the particular taste, color and every 
other sensible quality is just the same after the con- 
secration as it was before it. In a word, whatever 
is capable of being perceived by the senses remains, 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 27 

but the substance^ which is perceived by the under- 
standing alone, and not by the senses, is changed. 
But you will ask perhaps : '' Why does our Lord 
hide Himself under the outward appearances of 
bread and wine? AVhy does He not manifest Him- 
self under the sensible qualities of His body, with 
His wounded hands. His merciful countenance. His 
radiant majesty?'' Now, our Lord does so chiefly 
for two reasons. The first is, that we may not lose 
the merit of faith. Were we to see Jesus Christ 
as He is seen by the blessed in heaven^ we could no 
longer make an act of faith in His Eeal Presence, 
for '^ faith is the belief in things which we do not 
see.'' (St. Paul.) Now, our Lord wishes to be- 
stow, on us^ after this life, a great reward for our 
faith, as He Himself has said : '' Blessed are they 
that do not see and yet believe.'' Many of the 
saints, in order not to lose the merit of their faith, 
have gone so far as to beg our Lord not to favor 
them with those consoling manifestations of Him- 
self in the Blessed Sacrament which He has some- 
times granted to His chosen servants. One day, 
when St. Louis, king of France, Avas invited to go 
to a church in which our Lord appeared in the Holy 
Eucharist under the form of an infant, he replied : 
''I will not go to see my Lord in the Holy Eucha- 
rist, because I believe that He is present there as 
firmly as if I had seen Him. Let those go and see 
Him who do not believe." 



28 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

Surius relates, in the life of St. Hugo, that a 
priest of a certain village in England, on breaking 
the sacred host one day at Mass, saw blood issuing 
from it, whereupon, filled with reverential awe, he 
determined to lead a holier life in future, and in 
fact he soon became renowned for his sanctity. St. 
Hugo happening once to stop at this village, the 
priest related this miracle to him, and offered to 
show him the cloths which were yet stained with 
the miraculous blood ; but the holy bishop refused 
to look at them, and would not even allow his at- 
tendants to do so, saying that such wonders and 
sensible proofs were only for those who did not 
believe. And when he noticed that some of his 
attendants had a desire to see them, he rei)rimanded 
them sharply, and said that this desire proceeded 
not from piety, but from curiosity, and that it was 
more perfect to believe without seeing, as our Lord 
Himself assures us. ^^ Blessed are they that have 
not seen and yet believe.'' (St. John xx. 29.) 

The second reason why our Lord hides Himself is, 
that He might inspire us with confidence. If He were 
to show Himself in all His glory, as He appears to 
the angels and saints in heaven, who would dare to 
approach Him? Surely no one. But Jesus most 
earnestly desires to unite Himself intimately to our 
souls, and, therefore^ He conceals Himself under 
the outward form of bread, that we may not be 
afraid of Him. '^ Our great King,'' says St. Te- 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 29 

resa, ^^ veils Himself that we may receive Him with 
greater confidence/' 

In order to enliven our faith in His Keal Presence^ 
our Lord has frequently manifested Himself in a 
sensible manner in the Holy Eucharist. Church his- 
tory abounds in instances of the kind. The first 
that I shall relate is that of a miracle which oc- 
curred in the church of St. Denis in Douay, and is 
recorded by Thomas Cantipratensis^ an eye-witness. 
A certain priest, after having distributed holy com- 
munion to the faithful, found one of the sacred hosts 
lying on the floor. Full of consternation, he knelt 
down to take it up, when the host arose, of its own 
accord, and placed itself on the purifier. The 
priest immediately called those who were present, 
and when they came near the altar, they all saw in 
the sacred host Jesus Christ under the form of a 
child of exquisite beauty. ^^On hearing the news,'' 
says our author, ^^ I too went to Douay. After I 
had declared to the dean the object of my visit, we 
went together to the churchy and no sooner had he 
opened the ciborium wherein the miraculous host 
was contained^ than we both beheld our Divine Sa- 
viour.'' ^^I saw," says Thomas, ^^ the head of 
Jesus Christ, like that of a full grown man. It 
was crowned with thorns. Two drops of blood 
trickled down His forehead and fell on his cheek. 
With tearful eyes I fell prostrate before Him. 
"When- 1 arose again, I no longer saw either the 
3* 



30 - THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

crown of thorns or the drops of bloody but only the 
face of a man whose aspect inspired great venera- 
tion/' This miracle gave rise to a confraternity in 
honor of the Most Holy Eucharist, to which several 
popeS; especially Paul IV. and Clement XIV. 
granted numerous indulgences. (P. Favre Le Ciel 
ouvert.) 

In the village of Les Uhnes de St. Florent^ in the 
diocese of Angers, the following miracle occurred 
on the second of June, 1666, the Saturday within 
the octave of the feast of Corpus Christi. The peo- 
ple were assembled in the church for benediction, 
and when the priest had intoned the hymn, '^ Ver- 
bum Caro, panem verum," there appeared in place 
of the host the distinct figure of a man. He was 
clothed in white, and His hands were crossed on His 
breast ; His hair fell upon His shoulders, and His 
countenance was resplendent with majesty. The 
curate then invited all his parishioners to come and 
witness the miracle : ^^ If there be any infidel here,'' 
said he, '^ let him now draw near." Every one ap- 
proached and gazed upon this beautiful vision for 
about a quarter of an hour^ after which the host re- 
sumed its former shape. The bishop of Angers, 
Mgr. Henry Arnaud, after having examined the 
testimony in favor of this miracle^ caused it to be 
proclaimed throughout the whole of France. 

The Blessed Nicholas Fattori, a Franciscan friar^ 
remarkable for his piety and purity of hearty often 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 31 

saw Jesus Christ in the consecrated host in the form 
of an infant. On touching the Blessed Sacrament, 
he seemed to feel, not the mere Eucharistic species^ 
but the very flesh of Jesus Christ. On this account 
he used to present his fingers to those who wished 
to kiss his hand, saying : ^^Kiss these fingers with 
great respect, for they are sactified by real contact 
with Jesus Christ our Lord and Sovereign Good.'' 
It is also related that, when this holy man was in 
the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, he used to 
rejoice as a child does in the presence of its mother. 

Our Lord, in His great mercy, has even gone so 
far as to manifest Himself to His enemies, to the 
unbelievers. 

In the life of St. Gregory the Great, written by 
Paul the deacon, it is related that a noble matron 
of Eome who was accustomed to prepare the hosts 
for the holy sacrifice of Mass, went one Sunday to 
receive holy communion from the Holy PontiflT. 
When he gave her the Blessed Eucharist, saying : 
^' May the body of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve 
thy soul unto life everlasting/' she laughed out- 
right. Seeing this, the Sovereign Pontiff did not 
give her the Blessed Sacrament, but replaced it on 
the altar, and when the holy mysteries were ended, 
he asked the lady why she laughed when about to 
receive the Body of the Lord. '^ Why," said she, 
'^ I laughed because I saw that, what you said was 
the Body of the Lord, was one of those very wafers 



32 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

which I had made with my own hands/' Upon 
this the Pope ordered all present to pray that God, 
in confirmation of the truth, would cause all to see 
with the eyes of the body what the unbelief of this 
woman had prevented her from seeing with the eyes 
of the soul. Accordingly, when the holy Pontiff 
and all present had prayed for a while^ the corporal 
was removed^ and in sight of the multitude who 
pressed round to witness the miracle, the holy host 
was visibly changed into flesh. Then, turning to 
the woman, the Pope said : Learn now to believe 
the words of the Eternal Truth Who declares : '^ The 
bread which I give is My flesh, and My blood is 
drink indeed." And having besought God once 
more to change the host into its original form, he 
gave her the holy communion. This woman never 
again doubted .of the Eeal Presence, and soon made 
great progress in virtue. 

I shall adduce only one more instance which is 
related by St. Alphonsus, in his History of Here- 
sies. It occurred about the time in which Wickliffe 
began to deny the Catholic doctrine of the Eeal 
Presence. Some Jews procured a sacred host, 
through a servant girl whom they had bribed to re- 
ceive it unworthily. They then carried it to an 
inn_, where they cut it into several pieces. Imme- 
diately a great quantity of blood issued from each 
of the particles ; but this miracle did not convert 
those unhappy wretches. They now concealed the- 



OUR GREATESr TREASURE. 33 

particles in a meadow near the city of Posen. Some 
time afterwards, a cow-herd, on crossing this mea- 
doWj saw the small particles of the host rising into 
the air and shining like fiery flames ; he saw, more- 
over, that the oxen fell on their knees as if in ado- 
ration. The cow-herd, who was a Catholic, told his 
father what he had seen, and the father, having 
also witnessed the miracle, acquainted the magis- 
trate of the fact. Thereupon a great concourse of 
people flocked to the j)lace to witness the miracle. 
In fine, the Bishop, with the clergy of the city, 
went in procession to the place, and having depos- 
ited the holy particles in a ciborium, they carried 
them to the church. A small chapel was built on 
the spot where this miracle occurred. This chapel 
was afterwards enlarged and converted into a mag- 
nificent church by Wenceslaus, king of Poland, and 
Stephen, the Archbishop, testifies to his having 
seen in this church these bloody particles. 

You might be inclined to infer from this narrative 
that our Lord's body is really broken, and His blood 
really shed whenever the host is cut or divided ; but 
this is not the case. In the Blessed Sacrament our 
Lord's body remains whole and entire in each par- 
ticle, as it w^as in the entire host. The Fathers of 
the Church explain this by the comparison of a 
broken mirror, for, just as each part of the mirror 
refiects the entire image which the whole refiected 
before it was broken, so also does each particle of 



34 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

the host contain Christ's body entire^ as the whole 
host did before it Avas broken. And what is true of 
the host is true also of the chalice ; our Lord is 
present under each drop of blood as truly as under 
the whole species in the chalice. 

Whenever, therefore, the host is broken, or the 
blood spilt, it is not our Lord's body and blood that 
are broken and divided, but only the sacred species. 
Moreover, our Lord's blood, as well as His body, is 
present under the form of bread, and His body, as 
well as His blood, is present under the appearance 
of wine. At His resurrection, our Lord's soul was 
reunited to His body and blood, never to be again 
separated ; so that where His body is, there also 
is His blood. His soul, and His Divinity; and 
where His blood is there also are His body, soul 
and Divinity. In a word, Christ is entirely 
present under the species of bread as well as 
in the least particle of it, and He is also entirely 
present under the species of wine, as well as in 
the least particle of it. On this account, the 
Church, moved by several weighty reasons, commu- 
nicates the faithful under the form of bread only, 
knowing that they are thereby deprived of no part 
of the Sacrament, but that they receive the blood of 
Jesus Christ as truly as if they drank it out of the 
chalice. That our Lord's blood is contained along 
with His body in the sacred host, is proved, not only 
by the authority of the Church and the Scriptures^ 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 35 

and by the arguments from reason which I have 
just stated, but also by numerous miracles. Some 
of those which I have already related prove this 
doctrine. I will, therefore, add but one more. It 
is related in the chronicles of the Hieronimites, that 
a religious of that order, named Peter of Cavanelas, 
was much tempted by doubts about the presence of 
blood in the sacred host. It pleased God to deliver 
him from the temptation in the following manner : 
One Saturday^ as he was saying Mass in honor of 
our Blessed Lady, a thick cloud descended upon the 
altar and enveloped it completely. When the cloud 
had disappeared, he looked for the host he had con- 
secrated, but could not find it. The chalice, too, 
was empty. Full of fear, he prayed to God to as- 
sist him in this perplexity, whereupon, he beheld 
the host, upon a paten, in the air. He noticed that 
blood was flowing from it into the chalice. The 
blood continued to flow until the chalice was as full 
as it had been before. After his death, this miracle 
was found recorded in his own hand-writing. At 
the time it happened, nothing was known about it, 
as our Lord enjoined secrecy upon him. Even the 
person who served his Mass knew nothing about it ; 
he only noticed that the priest shed many tears, and 
that the Mass lasted longer than usual. Ah ! how 
mysterious, yet how divine and how consoling is the 
doctrine of the Keal Presence ! Indeed, it is one of 
the most wonderful and most consoling of all doc- 



36 I THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

trines. It is the centre of Catholic devotion, and 
has ever been the object of the most rapturous con- 
templation of the saints. But I have not yet men- 
tioned a fact which, I believe, will increase your 
appreciation of this mystery. It is, in some re- 
spects, more wonderful than any I have yet men- 
tioned, and with it I will conclude my instruction. 
There have been many holy persons, who have had 
a supernatural instinct by which they were sensible of 
the presence of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament 
even when it was hidden and at a distance from them ; 
they could also distinguish a consecrated host from 
an unconsecrated one. Goerres, in his celebrated 
work entitled, '^ Christian Mysticism,'' notices this 
fact, and thus prefaces the enumeration of the few 
cases which he cites : ^' In reference to the holiest 
of all things, the Sacrament of the Eucharist, we 
find that those saints who have succeeded in raising 
themselves to the higher regions of spiritual life, 
were all endowed with the faculty of detecting the 
presence of the Blessed Sacrament, even when it 
was hidden and at a considerable distance. Blessed 
Ida of Louvain Avas always sensible of the pres- 
ence of our Lord at the precise moment of conse- 
cration. Once when the server at Mass had, by 
mistake, given the priest water instead of wine, so 
that there was no consecration, St. Coleta, though 
kneeling at a distance, perceived it by a supernatu- 
ral instinct. 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 37 

The Cistercian nun Juliana always knew when 
the Blessed Sacrament was moved from St. Martin's 
church at the close of the service, and each time 
she used to be overwhelmed with sadness. This 
was frequently witnessed by her friend Eva. (Ibid.) 
One day the Franciscans of Villonda invited the 
lioly Carmelite Cassetus to visit them, and in order 
to try him they took the Blessed Sacrament out of 
the tabernacle in which it was usually kept and 
placed it elsewhere. - They put no light before it^ 
but left the lamp burning as usual before the custo- 
mary altar. On entering the church, the compan- 
ion of Cassetus turned towards the high altar, but 
Cassetus immediately pointed out the spot where the 
Blessed Sacrament had been placed, saying : '^ The 
body of our Lord is there, and not w^iere the lamp 
is burning ; the brothers w^hom you see behind the 
grating have placed it there in order to try us/' 
(Ibid.) 

St. Francis Borgia had the same gift, and on en- 
tering a church, he alw^ays walked straight to the 
spot where the Blessed Sacrament was kept, even 
when no external sign indicated its presence. In 
1839, Prince Licknowsky visited Mary Moerl, the 
celebrated Tyrolese Virgin, upon whom God be- 
stowed so many miraculous gifts. While she was 
kneeling in ecstacy on her bed, he observed that she 
moved round towards the window. Neither he nor 
any or those present could t-ell the cause of this- 
4 



38 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

At last, on looking out, tliey saw a priest passing 
by, carrying the Yiaticum to the sick, without bell 
or chant, or any sound that could give notice of its 
approach. (Catholic Magazine.) 

In the life of St. Lidwina of Holland, it is re- 
corded that the priest, in order to try her, gave her 
an unconsecrated host, but the saint perceived that 
it was only bread, and said : ^^ Your Eeverence will 
please give me another host, for that which you hold 
in your hand is not Jesus Christ.'' 

Blessed Margaret of the Blessed Sacrament, a 
Carmelite nun who lived in France, was one day 
suffering great pain. Her sisters, wishing to ascer- 
tain whether she would really find relief in the 
presence of the Blessed Sacrament, to which she 
had a singular devotion, carried her at first to vari- 
ous places in which the Holy Eucharist was not kept, 
and exhorted her to pray to Jesus Christ ; but she 
answered in a plaintive voice : '^ I do not find my 
Saviour here/'' and addressing herself to Him, she 
said: ^' My Lord, I do not find here Thy Divine 
Truth," after which she besought her sisters to 
carry her into the presence of the Blessed Sacra- 
ment. (Her life by P. Poesl, C. S.S. E.) 

When St. Louis, king of France, was on his 
death-bed, he was asked by the priest who brought 
him the Viaticum, whether he really believed that 
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was present in the 
host. The saint, collecting all his strength, an- 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 39 

swered with a loiul voice: ^^I believe it as firmly 
as if I saw Him present in the host^ just as the 
Apostles saw Him when He ascended gloriously into 
heaven/' Now, if you would have such faith as 
this great saint, make use of the following means : 
First, make many acts of faith in the real presence 
of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. Make 
them at home ; kneel down in your room ; turn to- 
ward some church in which the Blessed Sacrament 
is kept and say : '' My Jesus, I firmly believe that 
Thou art present in that church ; I sincerely wish 
to be with Thee ; but since this is impossible, I be- 
seech Thee to give Thy blessing to me and to 
all men." Make such acts of faith when you 
are abroad or when you are at your w^ork : turn 
from time to time towards the Blessed Sacrament 
and say : ^^ My amiable Saviour, bless me and every- 
thing that I do ; I will do and suffer everything for 
love of Thee.'' Make such acts of faith on your 
way to church. Say to yourself: ^^I am going to 
visit the King of heaven and earth ; I am going to 
see my good Jesus, my amiable Saviour, Who died 
on the cross for me, a wretched sinner ; I am going 
to visit the best of fathers. Who even considers it a 
favor when I have recourse to Him in my necessi- 
ties." Finally, excite your faith when you are in 
church. . Kneel with profound reverence and adore 
your God and Creator, saying : ^' My God, I firmly 
believe that Thou art in this tabernacle. I believe 



40 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

that in the Blessed Sacrament the same God is pres- 
ent Who created heaven and earth out of nothing ; 
the same God Who became an infant for my sake ; 
Who, after His death and resurrection, ascended 
into heaven, and now sits at the right hand of God 
the Father Almighty ; the same Who, at the end of 
the world, will come in great majesty to judge the 
living and the dead/' 

This, then, is the first rule — to make many acts 
of faith. The second is — to keep yourself free from 
sin ; for God will not bestow the gift of a lively 
faith on a soul that is dead in sin. The third and 
most efiicacious means to gain a strong faith in the 
real presence of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacra- 
ment is — to pray for it. ^^ He that asketh receiv- 
eth/' Hence^ if you wish to have a lively faith 
in this mystery^ a faith that will make you exult 
when in the presence of the Holy Eucharist, or 
even w^hen you think of it — ask it of Jesus Christy 
and be assured that you will receive it. But since 
this lively faith is a gift of inestimable value, Jesus 
Christ wishes that we should ask for it again and 
again without ceasing. Pray, therefore, for it, until 
you have obtained it, and when you have obtained 
this great gift, continue to pray that it may never 
be taken from you. Make this prayer especially du- 
ring Mass. Hear Mass frequently, and especially in 
the time between the consecration and the commu- 
nion ; beseech Jesus Christ to grant your peti- 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 41 

tion, and doubt not in the least that you will ob- 
tain it. 

A young cleric once heard a missionary preach 
on the Eeal Presence, and on the great love of 
Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. The 
preacher spoke with as lively a faith as if he saw 
Jesus Christ with his eyes. The young man was 
struck at this, and said to himself: ^' my Lord ! 
what shall become of me ? I, too, must one day 
preach on Thy presence in the Holy Eucharist ; but 
how feeble will my words be in comparison with 
the words of this pious priest !'' The young man 
related this afterwards, and he added that, from 
that time forward, he had always begged of Jesus 
Christ the gift of a lively faith in the Eeal Pres- 
ence, and that he had done so frequently during 
Mass, particularly at the time of the elevation. 
By this means his faith became so strong that he 
afterwards besought our Lord not to appear to him 
in any sensible manner ; and he could find nowhere 
so much joy and contentment of heart as in a 
church where the Blessed Sacrament was pre- 
served. 

Often call to mind the wonders which Jesus 
Christ has wrought in this mystery of love ; make 
many acts of faith in His Eeal Presence ; lead a 
very chaste life ; often beseech Jesus Christ to give 
you a lively faith, especially when you have re- 
ceived Holy Communion : and then rest assured 
4* 



42 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

tliat your faith will become strong and lively, like 
the faith of a saint, and your happiness will he 
unbounded. In days of yore, God complained that 
the Jews did not know Him: '^ The ox knoweth 
his owner, and the ass his master's crib : but Israel 
hath not known Me, and My people hath not un- 
derstood/' And when our Divine Saviour came 
on earth, He repeated the same reproach. When 
Philip said to our Lord^, at the Last Supper : 
^^ Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for 
us,'' our Saviour reproached him, saying : '^Have 
I been so long Avith you and you have not known 
Me ? Philip, he that seeth Me, seeth the Father 
also.'' In the same manner does our dear Saviour, 
hidden under the Sacramental veils, seem to re- 
proach us : '*'I, your God and Eedeemer, have been 
so long with you in the Blessed Sacrament, and 
yet you do not know Me ? Do you not know that 
w^hen you see the Blessed Sacrament, you see Me, 
your Jesus ? Do you not know that when you are 
in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament you are 
in My Divine Presence?" Alas ! this reproach is 
is but too just. How true are the words of the 
Evangelist: ^^He was in the worlds and the 
world was made by Him, and the world knew Him 
not. He came unto His own^ and His own re- 
ceived Him not." May you, my dear reader, 
never deserve this reproach^ but rather may you 
be of the number of those of whom the same 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 43^ 

Evangelist says: ^^But as many as received Him 
(that is^ with a lively faith,) to them He hath 
given power to be made the Sons of God/' May 
you live on earth as a Child of God, and after 
death may you be received into the kingdom of 
your heavenly Father, where, in reward for your 
faith, you will see, face to face. Him whom you 
have adored in the Blessed Sacrament, and will 
hear from His lips the consoling words: '• Come 
My well-beloved, blessed art thou, because, though 
thou hast not seen, hast yet believed." 



CHAPTER II. 

ON THE REVERENCE DUE TO JESUS CHRIST IN THE 
BLESSED SACRAMENT. 

A YOUNG Portuguese travelled to India to seek 
his fortune. In a few years he returned to 
Europe, accompanied by several of his own ves- 
sels, laden with wealth, the fruits of his toil and 
researches. Having arrived at his ifative place : 
''Stay," said he to himself, ''I must play a little 
deception on my relations." He put on soiled gar- 
ments and a torn cloak, and hastened to the house 



44 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

of his cousin Peter. In this disguise he claimed 
relationship: ^^I am your cousin John/' said he. 
^^ I have passed several years in India ; I now re- 
turn to visit my friends and native land once more. 
You see my position, and, thus by ties of kindred, 
I crave hospitality at your hands.'' ^' Ah ! would 
to heaven I could accommodate you, my dear 
John/' replied Peter. '^Excuse me, my house is 
wholly occupied." John, playing his role, pro- 
ceeds to another friend's house, makes the same 
advance, realizes the same reply, and thus to a third 
and fourth. His poverty-stricken appearance had 
thus driven him from door to door. Ah ! poor de- 
luded friends, little did you imagine that, under 
that tattered garment, a man of wealth lay con- 
cealed. John hastened back to his ships, cast aside 
his beggar's dress, robed himself in costly attire, 
and, followed, by a multitude of servants, pro- 
ceeded at once to purchase a princely dwelling in 
the very heart of the city. His fabulous wealth, 
his lordly retinue, his high-blooded steeds, were 
the talk of the town and neighborhood. The news 
soon reached the ears of his friends. Picture to 
yourselves, if you can, their wondrous amazement ! 
How changed would their conduct now be if the 
opportunity could but present itself anew ! Listen 
to the altered tone of their language : ^^ What is 
the meaning of all this?" said one to the other. 
^^ Could you have supposed this for a moment? 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 45 

Had I but known this before, my friend would have 
met with very different treatment at my hands ; 
but alas ! it is now^ too late. We have repulsed 
him forever.'' 

The foregoing story serves as an illustration of 
what takes place between Christians and their Lord. 
This man went to his friends as a beggar, attired 
in poor, tattered garments, disguising thus his 
affluence and power. In the Holy Sacrifice of the 
Mass, does not our Blessed Lord act in the same 
manner. Does He, wdiilst silently remaining en- 
closed in our Tabernacles, by day and by night, 
display His heavenly glory and brightness ? No ; 
but He there remains, as it were, in a poor, misera- 
ble dress, under the humble appearance of bread. 
This stranger came to his friends a second time in 
rich and royal attire, escorted by numerous attend- 
ants. Jesus Christ will come again, at the end of 
the world, enthroned on the clouds of heaven, in 
great power and majesty. Myriads of Angels and 
blessed spirits will surround Him on every side, for 
w^ealth, glory and j^ower are His. To w^hom can 
we compare those unkind friends of our narrative ? 
Unfortunately, to a very great number of Chris- 
tians of the present day. How is that, you will 
ask me, perhaps ? Because, as they paid little or 
no attention to their relative in his poverty, so, in 
the same manner, a great many Christians pay lit- 
tle or no reverence to Jesus Christ, when humbly 



46 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

concealed in the Sacrament of His love. After this 
conduct of Christians^ let us not be astonished if 
we hear of infidels or heretics treating our Lord 
with irreverence in the Holy Eucharist. 

Once a Jewess pushed her temerity and hardi- 
hood so far as to receive Holy Communion with the 
Christians. Her audacity was immediately detected, 
although, when she had received the Sacred Host, 
she bowed down most profoundly^ covering her face 
with her hands, as though wj-apped in the purest 
devotion. Well, you will say, ^' How did she be- 
tray herself?" Those who were near her noticed 
that she was keeping the Sacred Host in her mouth 
and treating it with irreverence. She acted thus in 
order to ridicule and dishonor Jesus Christ, the God 
of the Christians. The observers of this conduct 
concluded that she must be either a sorceress, or, as 
was really the case, an unbelieving Jewess. 

In, what does her conduct differ from that of many 
people of our day ? Do we not see men who hardly 
bow their head, much less bend the knee when pass- 
ing before that Most August Sacrament? Women 
enter the church who, by their dress and thought- 
lessness, cannot claim any high prerogative in the 
modesty of their sex. Men even grant full liberty 
to their wanton gaze, heedless of the penetrating 
eye of their God Who fills that temple, and Whose 
sight has already pierced their souls. When, at 
processions intended to honor the Blessed Sacra- 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 47 

merit, I see such behavior, I must conclude that this 
is the result of the most complete indifference to- 
wards Jesus Christ, or a total forgetfulness of His 
Presence. What then ; shall I call these persons 
Jews ? shall I call them sorcerers ? No. But I 
think I shall not be far astray in saying that they 
have not a lively faith. They may be Catholics, if 
you will, but, certainly, their faith is not j)ractical. 
They do not realize that Jesus Christ is present in 
the tabernacle and in the remonstrance. They are 
deceived by their senses. In the remonstrance, or 
in the hands of the priest at Mass, they see nothing 
but the white host, and their thoughts j)enetrate no 
farther. But if they only reflected on what their 
faith teaches, viz : that under that little host Jesus 
Christ conceals His heavenly splendor and glory^ 
how different would be their deportment ! how dif- 
ferent their thoughts and feelings ! Would you 
know how they would act if their faith was real and 
lively? Go to the palace of a king. .Mark the 
silent expectation in that splendid apartment ! 
What mean those movements so circumspect ? that 
tread so noiseless ? that voice so subdued ? Ah ! 
'tis the Eoyal Antechamber ! There, a loud word 
is an impertinence ; there, unbecoming attire is a 
crime. But hark ! even that stealthy conversation 
is hushed ; every eye is turned to one point, each 
one assumes the most respectful attitude, the cur- 
tain is drawn, and the obsequious courtiers stand in 



48 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

the presence of their King. What an unpardoh^ 
able breach of decorum would it not be for any one^ 
to remain sitting at a moment like this ! Yes, to 
talk, to laugh, or to remain with head covered ! 

Now, if such honor is paid to earthly princes, 
what reverence is hot then due to Him Who is 
^^King of kings and Lord of lords?" St. John 
Chrysostom is indignant with us for even making 
the comparison, and it is with reason. For what is 
an emperor when compared to the King of Heaven 
and earth ? He is less than the blade of grass 
when compared to the whole universe. 

Whenever the Blessed Sacrament is exposed in 
the tabernacle, borne in procession, or carried as 
Viaticum to the sick ; whenever the sacred host is 
raised at the consecration in the Mass, our infallible 
faith says to us: '^Ecce Eex vester!" '^Behold 
YOUR King !'' Behold your Eedeemer, your Judge, 
your Creator, your God ! 

If, then, in the presence of the Most Holy Sacra- 
ment I feel no devotion interiorly, and show no 
modesty exteriorly, what will j^ou think of me? 
You will say with truth and justice that: ^^that 
man does not believe that his God is present there ;'' 
or again, ^^ that man's faith is cold and dead.'' 

Who could believe that Jesus Christ is present 
in this Sacrament, and fail in reverence towards it? 
What reverence did not the Jews pay to the ark of 
the Covenant ! No one dared to approach it ; yet 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 49 

fifty thousand persons who, through curiosity, ven- 
tured to gaze thereat, were instantly struck dead, as 
a punishment for their rash act ! Yet, what did the 
ark contain ? Only the ten commandments of God. 
But in the Holy Eucharist, faith tells us that God 
Himself is present, He Who made all things out of 
nothing, and could destroy them in a moment. He 
Who, at the last day, will come on the clouds of 
heaven to judge the living and the dead. Only let 
Catholics believe this with a lively faith^ and our 
churches will be filled with worshippers^ whose 
deportment will correspond to their belief. The 
modest attire, the guarded eye, the bended knee, 
the meekly folded hands, w^ill bespeak the convic- 
tion of their hearts. Only let Catholics have a 
lively faith in this mystery, and Jesus Christ will 
seldom be left alone. At all hours, His children 
will come to present themselves before Him, as sub- 
jects before their prince, as slaves before their mas- 
tel*, as sick men before their physician^ as children 
before their father, in a word, as friends before their 
beloved friend. Only let a congregation be ani- 
mated with a lively faith in this doctrine of our 
holy religion, and each mind will be filled with 
amazement, the spirit will be recollected^ the soul 
moved to contrition, the affections inflamed, the eye 
melted to tears of tenderness, and the voice broken 
with sighs like those of the poor publican: '^0 
God he merciful to me, a sinner!'' or like unto 



50 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

that of St. Peter^ ^^ Lord^ retire from me^ for I am 
a sinful man!'' Thus reverence is nothing more 
than a lively faith. The reality of the Divine 
Presence in the Blessed Sacrament is the true rule 
of our deportment before it. The Catholic has 
within himself the rule of decorum. He needs 
nothing else to teach him what is proper or im- 
proper in churchy besides the dogma which assures 
him that he is in the presence of his God. If, 
then, he be but a little recollected, he will be, 
almost necessarily, respectful. 

This, then, is the great means of preserving a 
reverent deportment, to remember "Who He is that 
is enclosed in the tabernacle, and what we are, viz: 
that our Divine Saviour is in our midst, and that we 
are His creatures and subjects, come to worship 
Him. But although our faith is sufficient to teach 
us how we ought to behave before our Lord, yet 
because it is sometimes difficult to keep in mind the 
truths of faith, and because examples are always 
more powerful than a bare precept, I Avill set before 
you some striking examples, which may serve to 
impress upon your mind the duty of reverence to- 
wards the Blessed Sacrament. First, I will pro- 
pose the example of the Angels. St. Basil and St. 
John Chrysostom testify to having seen at the time 
of Mass^ or when the Blessed Sacrament was ex- 
posed, many hosts of Angels in human form, clothed 
with white garments and standing round the altar as 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 51 

soldiers stand before their king. But what was 
their attitude and deportment? Their heads were 
bowed, their faces covered, their hands crossed, and 
the w^hole body so profoundly inclined as to express 
the deepest sense of their own un worthiness to 
appear before the Divine Majesty. would we 
but think of this ! The Angels, those pure spirits, 
shrink before the Infinite Holiness of God, and 
.we allow vain, w^orldly and even sinful thoughts 
to insinuate themselves into our minds in His 
Presence ! The Angels tremble before His Great- 
ness, and we fear not to talk and laugh in His 
Presence ! The Angels, those princes of heaven, 
are all humility and modesty, and we, the dust of 
the earth and miserable sinners, all impertinence 
and pride ! The Angels veil their faces before His 
splendor, and we do not even so much as cast down 
our eyes, but rudely stare and gaze around I The 
Angels bow down to the earth, and w^e will not 
bend our knee ! The Angels, full of awe, fold 
their hands upon their breasts, and we allow our- 
selves every freedom of attitude and movement ! ! 
what a subject of confusion ! What humiliating 
reflections ! What an impressive lesson ! 

Secondly, I will take you from the princes of 
heaven to the princes of the earth, and teach you 
a lesson from the example of kings and nobles. 
There are many beautiful examples on record of the 
homage wdiich kings and emperors have paid to 



52 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

the Saviour of mankind, so humbly hidden in the 
Blessed Sacrament. Philip II. ^ King of Spain, 
always dispensed with regal pomp and pageantry 
when he assisted at processions of the Blessed Sacra- 
m,ent, and, as an ordinary personage, mingled with 
the common throng. Inclemency of weather de- 
terred him not from paying this tribute of honor to 
his Lord. One day, as he Avas devoutly accompa- 
nying the Blessed Sacrament with uncovered head, 
a page held his hat over hinij to shield him from 
the burning sun. ^^ Never mind," said Philip, 
''the sun w^ill do me no harm; at such a time as 
this we must regard neither rain nor wind, heat nor 
cold." On another occasion, w^hilst the Blessed 
Sacrament was being carried a great distance to a 
sick person, Philip accompanied it all the way on 
foot. The priest, observing this, asked him if he 
were not tired. ''Tired!" replied he, "behold! 
my servants w^ait upon me both by day and by 
night, and never yet have I heard one of them com- 
plain of being tired. Shall I, then, complain of 
fatigue when I am waiting upon my Lord and my 
Grod, Whom I can never sufficiently serve and 
honor ! Piudolph, Count of Hapsburg, whilst hunt- 
ing one day, observed a priest carrying the Viaticum 
to the sick, whereupon he immediately alighted, 
and insisted on the priest mounting in his place. 
The offer was accepted. The priest, having gone 
through his sacred and pastoral duty, returned the 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 53 

animal, with many marks of gratitude^ to the 
Count. But this noble and christian Count could 
not be prevailed upon to accept it. ^' No/' said he, 
^^ keep it^ for I am not worthy to ride upon a horse 
which has borne my Lord.'' (Heiss's History of 
Austria.) Whilst the Lutheran heresy was spread- 
ing its ravages throughout Germany, Charles V., 
of Spain^ hastened to Augsburg to assist at the diet 
convened there to stem the pernicious influence of 
this heresy. The feast of Corpus Christi fell at that 
time. It was celebrated with every possible pomp 
and magnificence ; the Emperor Charles assisted 
thereat with the most edifying devotion. At the 
procession, the Prince Bishop of Mayence carried 
the Most Adorable Sacrament, being supported on 
the right by Ferdinand, the Koman King — on the 
left by Joachim, Elector of Brandenburg. The 
canopy was borne by six princes, namely, Louis, 
Duke of Bavaria ; the son of the Elector of Bran- 
denburg ; George, Duke of Pomerania ; Philip, 
Count Palatine of Werdelburg ; Henry, Duke of 
Brunswick, and the Duke of Mecklenburg. When 
these six princes had carried it as far as the Chapel 
on Mount Berlach, six others took it and carried it 
to a place called the Holy Cross, whence six others 
bore it to the Cathedral. The Emperor Charles, 
torch in hand, on foot and with uncovered head, 
accompanied by several Archbishops, Bishops, and 
5* 



54 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

many persons of high rank^ followed the procession 
during the whole route. 

Such noble traits of devotion are not confined to 
days gone by ; in our own times we see princes who 
have inherited from their fathers this true devotion 
to the Most Holy Sacrament. Of the present Em- 
peror of Austria it is related that, one day as he 
w^as riding through the streets of Vienna, at the 
signal announcing that the Blessed Sacrament was 
being carried to the sick, he immediately stopped 
his carriage, alighted, and, on bended knees, there 
devoutly adored his Lord and God. The same is 
said of that excellent princess, the late queen of 
Belgium. 

Now, these instances of reverence are not men- 
tioned as being great in regard to the Blessed Sac- 
rament. Before Him Who dwells concealed under 
that veil, princes are as nothing. Why, then, 
should we be astonished at this? Why look on 
this tribute of devotion as something extraordi- 
nary ? 'Tis true, these princes are as nothing be- 
fore our Lord, but they are great and mighty when 
confronted with us, and may well serve to remind 
us of the obligation which faith imposes upon us. 
If, then, those, whose position bespeak honor and 
ease, cheerfully submit to humiliation, inconve- 
nience and pain at the call of religion, what ought 
we not to do ? We cannot boast of high position 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 55 

to make us proud, luxury to make us eftemiuate, or 
gentle care to make us tender. On the contrary, 
our position bows us to humility, our necessity and 
poverty bend us to labor, our life accustoms us to 
forego our ease. This being the case, whilst we 
honor the great ones of the earth, shall we refuse 
to join with them in worshipping Him Who is the 
source of all greatness, and "Who is above all ? 

We have seen that reverence towards the Blessed 
Sacrament is enjoined upon us by faith and reason, 
and preached to us by heaven and earth. I will, 
then, add but one more reflection : it is urged upon 
us by the teaching of our Holy Mother the Church. 

To what tend all her beautiful ceremonial, her 
minute ritual and her costly ornaments, but to in- 
spire or express reverence for her Divine Spouse ? 
Why is the priest who celebrates Mass, and the 
faithful who are communicated, required to be fast- 
ings but on account of the greatness of the Guest 
they are about to receive ? The incense, the lights, 
the flowers, the vestments of the priests, the nume- 
rous attendants, the genuflexions, are not all these 
to honor Him Who has so greatly humbled Himself 
for the love of us? And not content with her 
daily homage, she has appointed a festival in the 
year, for the express purpose of repairing the inju- 
ries which Jesus Christ has received from men, 
either at the time of His visible sojourn on earth or 
since the establishment of His Keligion. 



56 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

What is the procession of Corpus Christi but a 
reversal of the judgment which an unbelieving 
world passed upon our Lord, and a compensation 
for the outrages which it has inflicted on Him ? 
As He was once, in the most ignominious manner, 
led as a malefactor through the streets of Jerusa- 
lem, from Annas to Caiphas, from Caiphas to Pi- 
late, from Pilate to Herod, from one tribunal to 
another, so is He, on this day, borne in triumph 
through the streets, as the Spotless Lamb of God 
and man's Highest Good. 

As His sufferings had no other witnesses than 
envious and mocking Jews, so now, on this day, 
every knee bends in adoration before Him. As the 
executioners once led Him forth to death, so, in 
this procession, the great ones of the world mingle 
with the throng to do Him reverence. As then His 
ears resounded with the most scornful and out- 
rageous blasphemies, so now, on this great festival, 
the Church greets Him with every kind of musical 
instrument and song of praise. The crown of 
thorns whicli once pierced His brow, is now ex- 
changed for the wreath of flowers around the re- 
monstrance ; while civil magistrates, with, their in- 
signia, and troops of heroes, with glittering arms 
and waving banners, replace the fierce Eoman sol- 
diers who once kept watch around His dark and 
silent tomb. The Cross, which Jesus bore with 
sorrow and sweaty up the rugged hill of Calvary, 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 57 

is, on this His day of triumph, carried before all 
as the sign of victory. Jesus Himself, Who was 
lifted up upon it, is now, in the Blessed Sacrament, 
raised aloft to impart His Benediction to His kneel- 
ing and adoring people. 

If such be the spirit of the Church, what should 
be the practice of her children ? Are we Catho- 
lics ? Where then is our faith ? 

It is Jesus our Saviour Who remains enclosed in 
the tabernacle, and Who is lifted on high in the 
remonstrance. It is the true Eternal God Whom 
we receive in Communion. We must show by our 
works that w^e believe this. I do not say that we 
are bound, as the early Christians, to prostrate our- 
selves to the earth and press our foreheads in the 
dust. I do not say that we are bound to imitate 
St. Vincent of Paul and bend the knee when it costs 
us the most excruciating pain to do so. Neverthe- 
less, we are bound, at least_, to avoid offending our 
Divine Lord, and dishonoring Him to His face. 
We are bound, when about to receive Holy Com- 
munion, carefully to prepare ourselves by a good 
confession, and thus avoid the dreadful peril of re- 
ceiving Him in a state of mortal sin. We are 
bound to lay aside all unbecoming attire and scan- 
dalous behavior^ especially in the House of God, 
and to be modest, reverent and humble in attitude 
and deportment. We ought to regard all our 
members as, in some way, consecrated by Jesus 



58 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

Christ Whom we so often receivej or, at least. 
Whom we visit in the Church. It is not fitting 
that the feet, which have borne us to the altar of 
Grod, should carry us into evil company ; that those 
eyes which^ in the morning at Mass, have looked 
upon the Immaculate Victim, should, through the 
day, look at that which is unclean ; that the 
tongue, which has been the throne of God^ should 
utter blasphemous, impure or calumnious words ; 
that the heart, w^hich has been united to the In- 
finite Purity and Beauty, should be polluted by the 
stain of sin. But, alas ! how often are such inde- 
cencies perpetrated ! 

When one thinks of the oftences w^hich Jesus 
Christ receives in this Sacrament, of the sacrile- 
gious communions which those make who receive in 
mortal sin, or in the proximate occasion of sin, of 
the neglect of so many to receive Holy Communion 
for a long time, and the insufiicient preparation 
they do make when they receive, all this is enough 
to make the true Christian shudder with horror. 
Yes, we are inclined to believe as of old, God re- 
pented that He had made man, because his heart 
was bent on wickedness, so now our Lord must 
surely repent of having instituted this Sacrament, 
and must even wish to take away from His Priests 
the power which He gave them of consecrating His 
Body and Blood. 

But no, such a thought does an injustice to His 



OUR GREATESr TREASURE. 59 

love. Jesus Christ will never withdraw the power 
which He confided to His Church of changing 
bread and wine into His Most Adorable Body and 
Blood. He will continue to suffer patiently and 
silently till the end of time, for the sake of those 
faithful souls who give Him jDleasure by the devo- 
tion and love with which they receive or visit Him. 
Let us seek to be of that number. ^^Accedamus 
cum vero corde in plenitiidine fideiJ' ^^ Let us ap- 
proach Him with an upright heart and a lively 
faith. ^' 

One day He will throw off His disguise and ap- 
pear in His Heavenly Might and Splendor. how 
happy will they be then who have kept Him com- 
pany in His humiliation ! They will not be con- 
founded, but will ^^ stand before Him with great 
constancy.'' They will ^^ see His face'' and rejoice 
forevermore. 



60 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 



CHAPTEE III. 

ON THE LOVE OF JESUS CHRIST IN THE BLESSED 
SACRAMENT. 

ONE day two men, who were disputing about 
the possession of a piece of land, came to the 
Emperor Otho that he might decide on the affair in 
question ; each of them said : '' The land belongs 
to me/' And what do you think the Emperor did, 
when he found himself unable to settle the dis- 
pute ? He gave to the one, out of his own purse, 
as much money as the piece of land was worth, 
and to the other the land itself, and thus satisfied 
both. 

A similar, but far more wonderful act of libe- 
rality took place at Jerusalem eighteen centuries 
ago. This happened in the following manner : 
Our Divine Eedeemer having lived on this earth 
more than thirty years, and the time having come 
for Him to leave it, there arose, as it were, a dis- 
pute between heaven and earth. The Angels 
wished to have their Lord and their God with 
them in heaven again, after He had been for so 
long a time with men on earth. Men, on the other 
hand, especially the Apostles, desired to detain 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 61 

their Divine Master, Jesus Christ, with thein on 
earth. They felt very sad when He told them that 
the time had come for Him to leave them. Now, 
how did our sweet Lord act in order to settle this 
dispute? He found out a means to satisfy both 
men and Angels. He satisfied the Angels by as- 
cending to heaven ; He satisfied men by remaining 
invisibly with them in the Blessed Sacrament, and 
by giving power to the Apostles, and their lawful 
successors, to change bread into His Body and wine 
into His Blood. 

What could have induced our dear Lord, Chris- 
tian soul, to stay with us on earth in the Blessed 
Sacrament? Was it to gain honor? Alas! our 
good Lord receives the same treatment in the 
Blessed Eucharist which He received during the 
thirty-three years that He lived upon earth. When 
upon earth He was made light of, and it was said 
of Him: '^'Is He not the son of a carpenter?'' 
''Why do you listen to Him ?" said the Pharisees. 
'' Do you not see that He has a devil, that He is 
possessed, that He is a wine-drinker and a friend 
of sinners?'' They bound Him, scourged Him, 
crowned Him with thorns, and, at last, making 
Him carry His own cross, they crucified Him. 
Such Avas the honor which Jesus Christ received 
when living among men ! And has he not been 
treated in the same manner, in His Sacrament, 
from that time to the present day ? Instead of 
6 



62 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

being honored by all men^ as He deserves, He is 
dishonored and insulted. Some do not think of 
Him for weeks together ; others walk carelessly into 
the church, almost like men without faith, and 
make their genuflexion before Him as if they 
wished to mock Him ; others behave in church as if 
they were in their own houses. In many churches 
there is not even a lamp kept burning ; and how 
often has it happened^ that the consecrated hosts 
have been trodden under foot, or thrown into the 
fire by heretics, Jews and other bad men ? 

Such has been the treatment He has met with — 
contempt, mockery and insult, or coldness and in- 
difference towards His Divine Majesty ! Certainly, 
the expectation of being honored could not have in- 
duced Him to remain with us ! What then induced 
Him to stay with us in the Holy Eucharist ? Was 
it to seek or to increase His own happiness ? By 
no means. His happiness is so great that it cannot 
be increased. He has risen from the dead ; He is 
glorified ; He sits at the right hand of God the 
Father, and has all power in heaven and on earth. 
The Angels serve Him ; men are His subjects, 
whom He will judge and reward according to their 
deserts ; the devils tremble at His presence ; every 
knee must bend before Him, of those that are in 
heaven, on earth and under the earth, in purgatory 
and in hell. What, then, is wanting to His hap- 
piness ! Nothing. Since, therefore, our Lord can- 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 63 

not become happier by remaining with us, and 
since He does not receive due honor among lis, 
what, I ask once more, could have induced Him to 
abide here so long, to remain on earth for eighteen 
hundred years, yea even until the end of the world, 
to be present in the Blessed Sacrament in every 
place, in every parish church in America, Europe, 
Africa, Asia, Australia, in the isles of the sea, and 
even sometimes in the midst of the ocean itself? 
Ah ! Christian soul, there was no other motive than 
love, the great, the excessive love of Jesus Christ 
towards men ! 

Yes, it was love, love alone, nothing but love, 
which induced Jesus, our Kedeemer, to remain 
among us in the Blessed Sacrament. Jesus, 
most sweet Jesus, hidden under the sacramental 
species, give me now such love and humility, that 
I may be able lovingly to speak of this invention of 
boundless love, that all who hear of it, may begin 
to love Thee in reality. 

Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ, and our dear 
Mother ; all ye holy Angels, who, by your adora- 
tion in our churches^ make up for the little love 
which your God and our Saviour receives from men, 
obtain for us the grace to comprehend a little the 
love of Jesus Christ in the most Holy Sacrament. 

In order to conceive, in some measure, the love of 
Jesus Christ in this wonderful Sacrament, let us 
consider first, the time at which He gave Himself to 



64 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

US as our food and drink. Jesus might have insti- 
tuted this Sacrament when^ in the twelfth year of 
His age. He travelled to Jerusalenij or at the wed- 
ding in Cana, or Avhen He was thirty years old and 
began to teach publicly, or He might have insti- 
tuted it after His Resurrection. But He chose, for 
the time of its institution, the last moment of His 
earthly career.. Why did He wait so long? Why 
did He not institute it sooner or later ? why not 
after His resurrection ? Why just at the moment 
when He w^as about to take leave of the Apostles 
and quit the earth ? He instituted this Sacrament 
at the last moment of His life, in order that men 
might Wie better see the excess of His love. Do 
you ask how^ this is ? To make it clearer, imagine 
a father who has in store costly presents of gold 
and jewels which he intends to give to his children, 
in order to show them how much he loves them. 
What time do you think, this father will choose for 
bestowing these gifts, as being best calculated to 
make a deep impression on them? He will wait 
until he is on his death-bed, and then he will give 
them, that they may be the last memorials of his 
love. 

Behold, our Divine Saviour thought and acted in 
the very same manner. He thought, I have already 
given men so many proofs of My love towards them ; 
I have created them ; I preserve their lives ; I have 
become man, — for their sake I became a child ; I 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 65 

have lived among them for more than thirty years ; 
I am yet to suffer and die for them on the cross and- 
to re-open heaven for them ; what can I do more for 
them? Ah! I can make them one more present;. 
I will give them a most precious gift ; I will give 
them all that I have, so that they may not be able 
to charge Me with having done less for them than L 
miglit have done. I will give them Myself as a- 
legacy ; I will give them My Divinity and My Hu- 
manity, My Body and My Soul, Myself, entirely 
and without reserve. I will make them this present 
at the last moment of My life, at a time when men^ 
are accustomed to bequeathe to those whom they 
love that which they value the most. At the very^ 
moment when they are seeking to betray Me ; at the- 
very moment when the Pharisees and Jews are 
planning to remove me out of the world, I will give^ 
Myself to men 'on earth to be their food and drink :; 
to abide with them in the Blessed Sacrament in a^ 
wonderful manner ; to be always in their m-idst, bjr 
dwelling in their churches. Instead of withdraw- 
ing My love from them on account of their ingrati- 
tude, I will manifest it to them the more. Won- 
derful manner ! who could ever have imagined that 
God would go so far in His love for ungrateful men 
as to give them His own Flesh and Blood as the 
food of their souls ! What man or Angel would 
ever have conceived such a thing ! And supposing: 
it had occurred to some man or Angel, to wish that. 
5* 



66 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

God might do so^ who would have dared to express 
such a wish, or to ask such a thing of God ? Would 
not the thought have been immediately banished 
from the mind as sacrilegious? Now, what the 
Angels could never have conceived, nor men dared 
to ask, the immense love of God has given us 
unasked. 

Hence our Lord was right indeed to say to His 
Disciples when they became sad on account of His 
having told them of His approaching departure 
from them: ^^ Let not your hearts be troubled ; I 
will not leave you orphans/' A good mother on 
her death-bed says to her weeping children : '^ Dear 
children, I must now die, and leave you. I recom- 
mend you to God, and to the protection of your 
Blessed Mother, Mary. Avoid sin, and act always 
as good children, that I may be so happy as to see 
you again in the other world.'' But Jesus does not 
speak thus to His Apostles. He says : ^^ You need 
not be sad, because I am about to leave the world. 
I will remain always with you in My most Holy 
Sacrament. I will give you a power, than which 
there is no greater in heaven or on earth, that of 
changing bread into My Body, and wine into My 
Blood. In virtue of this power, you can always 
have Me with you. You need only pronounce the 
words of consecration over the bread and wine, and 
in that very moment I will be with you and you 
will hold Me in your hands. Love ! Love of 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 67 

God towards us ! Jesus, Thou lovest us too 
mucli ! Thou couldst not endure that we should be 
left alone in this world ; and that even death might 
not be able to separate Thee from us. Thou didst 
leave Thyself to us as our food in the Blessed 
Sacrament. 

Secondly, in order that we may see the love of 
Jesus in the Holy Eucharist still more clearly, let 
us consider, with a lively faith. Whom we have 
in our midst. Dear Christian, consider, if Jesus 
Christ had left a saint or an Angel with us in His 
stead after His death, or if He had given us His 
own Mother to remain w4th us and keep us com- 
pany, would it not have been a very great proof of 
His love towards us? But He has left neither 
saint nor Angel ; not even His own Mother, for it 
was too little for His love. He Himself would be 
ever with us. Yes, indeed, the good God, the holy 
and merciful God is among us — the Almighty God 
Who created us and the whole world out of noth- 
ing, and Who still continues to preserve us. That 
same God is in our tabernacles Who saved Noah 
from the deluge ; Who gave manna from heaven to 
the Jews ; Who, amid lightning and thunder, gave 
the ten commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai ; 
Who, at Babylon, delivered the three youths from 
the flames of the burning furnace ; Who saved the 
life of Daniel in the den of lions. That same Jesus 
is with us in our churches Who, at His birth^ was 



68 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

laid on straw and adored by the Magi ; Who fled 
into Egypt ; Who was sought for by the Blessed 
Virgin and found in the temple ; Who changed 
water into wine ; AYho restored sight to the blind ; 
made the deaf to hear^ and the dumb to speak. 
Beloved Christian, you esteem Simeon happy in 
having been permitted to take the Infant Jesus in 
his arms ; and were you to receive a grace like him^ 
no doubt you would exclaim: ^^ Now dost Thou 
dismiss thy servant, Lord, according to thy 
word, in peace : because my eyes have seen Thy 
salvation." You consider Zacheus happy because 
our Lord vouchsafed to enter his house and eat with 
him ; you deem St. John happy because he rested 
on the breast of our Saviour at the Last Supper ; 
and, above all, you regard St. Joseph and the 
Blessed Virgin Mary so very happy, because they 
nourished and supported our dear Lord. But are 
you not as happy as they? Are you not even hap- 
pier? You do not hold our Lord in your arms as 
Simeon did, but you receive Him into your heart in 
Holy Communion ; you do not rest on the bosom of 
our Lord like St. John, but the Saviour Himself 
rests in your heart after Holy Communion ; you do 
not nurse and support our Lord like St. Joseph and 
the Blessed Virgin, but you have a still greater 
happiness, for the Saviour Himself nourishes you 
and gives Himself to you as your food. Love t 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 69 

Lo\;e ! who can understand the love of God 
for men ! 

What would you say if a shepherd suffered him- 
self to be slain in order to save his sheep? What 
would you say if, in those times of horrible famine 
which history here and there records, when the 
cravings of hunger silenced the voice of nature, 
and men fed on each other's flesh, a king had loved 
a beggar so much, or a lord his servant, as to give 
himself as food in order to save the poor sufferer 
from starvation ? Do you think that any shepherd, 
or king, or lord could really be found who would 
act thus? Certainly not. Again, a mother's love 
is proverbial, and mothers are often found who love 
their offspring so much that they will deprive 
themselves of a morsel of their scanty bread to give 
it to their hungry children — and yet it has some- 
times happened that even mothers have devoured 
their own infants in time of famine. 

Now, while no shepherd loves his sheep so much 
as .to give his own life for them; while no king 
ever loved a beggar so much as to suffer, for his 
sake, the loss of life or limb ; while even a mother 
can grow cruel towards the fruit of her womb, 
Jesus, our God and our King, has loved us so much 
as to give Himself to us whole and entire. His 
Flesh and Blood, His Humanity and Divinity really 
and substantially. 

I am the good Shepherd,'' says Jesus; ^^a 



a 



70 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

good shepherd gives his life for his sheep." He 
seems to say to us : ^' I give My life for you^ each 
day, at each Holy Mass, at each Holy Communion. 
I am the God of Supreme Wisdom ; but I cannot 
find a more adequate pledge of My love. I am Al- 
mighty, but My Omnipotence is not able to do any- 
thing greater ; 1 am love itself, but I cannot give 
you anytliing more consoling ! It is so, sweet 
Lord, I acknowledge Thy infinite love, and full of 
amazement at Thy immense charity, I find no bet- 
ter words to express my wonder than those of Thy 
saints : ^' Lord, Thou hast become foolish from love 
towards us.'' (St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzis.) 
^' He has given heaven; He has given earth ; He 
has given His Kingdom ; He has given Himself — 
what more has He to give? my God ! (allow me 
to say it) how prodigal art Thou of Thyself!'' (St. 
Augustine.) 

Thirdly, an especial mark of the love of Jesus 
Christ in the Blessed Sacrament towards us, is the 
marine)' in which He gives Himself to us. He is 
with us, but under strange forms. Now, some one 
may say: ^* Would not the love of Jesus Christ 
have seemed greater if He had remained with us 
visibly, so that we might have seen Him and con- 
versed with Him as one friend does with another ?" 
No, dear Christian, it would not have seemed so 
great. Just because He conceals himself from our 
eyes. He gives a new proof of His love, and shows 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 71 

that He thinks of us all^ of sinners as well as of 
the just. ^'How so?" you ask. I will tell you 
how. First, then, with regard to sinners, Jesus 
renders them a great favor by concealing Himself. 
You know that the best remedy for weak eyes is to 
exclude the light. We cannot look at a very bright 
object without our eyes being dazzled. None of us 
could look steadily at the sun at noon ; if we should 
do so, we would become blind. We read in Holy 
Scripture that Moses once conversed with God on a 
mountain, and that afterwards, when he came down 
to the Jews, his countenance was so radiant with 
light that they were unable to look upon him, and 
he was obliged to put a veil over his face when he 
spoke to them. Suppose now, beloved Christian, 
that Jesus Christ were to manifest Himself on our 
altars in His heavenly splendor and glory, and one 
yet at enmity with God, should come into the 
church, how would he feel? Would he not be 
overwhelmed with awe and terror ? Yea, a mortal 
agony would seize the poor wretch at the sight of 
Jesus Christ. When Adam and Eve had sinned, 
they heard the voice of the Lord Who w^as walk- 
ing about in Paradise, and they hid themselves 
from the Lord in the midst of the garden. The 
mere sight of an offended God was insupportable to 
them. Cain, too, acted in the same manner after 
having killed his brother. '^And Cain fled from 
the face of the Lord." Oh ! it is terrible for man 



72 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

to appear before God with a conscience laden with 
sin ! 

If, in our dav, Jesns Christ were to show Himself 
openly, sinners would flee from the church in order 
to avoid the angry countenance of their Judge. If 
one conscious of sin should dare to remain and 
brave the displeasure of his offended Lord, his heart 
would die within him before the angry glance of 
those eyes which are ^^as a flame of fire/' One 
single indignant look that Philip II., king of 
Spain, cast upon two of his courtiers, who behaved 
irreverently in church, was enough to drive one of 
them out of his senses and to kill the other. How, 
then, could a sinner endure the eye of Jesus Christ? 
We may judge, in some measure, from what took 
place when the Bethsamites looked upon the ark of 
the covenant with irreverent curiosity. More than 
fifty thousand were instantly punished with death 
for having gazed at the ark of the covenant of the- 
Lord in which the ten commandments of God were 
preserved. '^ And the men of Bethsames said : 
' Who can stand before the face of the Lord, of 
that Holy God ?' '' Who, then, does not see that 
it is a great grace and benefit, for us and all sin- 
ners, that Jesus Christ should veil Himself from 
our view under the appearances of bread and 
wine? Oh ! how considerate and amiable is the 
heart of Jesus Christ ! He does not wish openly 
to meet with one who is His sworn enemy, and 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 73 

who^ on that account^ deserves nothing else but 
His wrath and vengeance. He works one of His 
greatest miracles, and draws near to him without 
being seen. He keeps Himself hidden under the 
poor veil of bread that the sinner may not tremble 
and fear before His majesty and brightness, but 
may approach Him with confidence to ask the par- 
don of his sins, and grace not to relapse into them 
again. 

But, not only to sinners does Jesus Christ show 
special love by concealing Himself in the Blessed* 
Sacrament^ but also to the just. These, indeed, 
would not, like sinners, be conscience-stricken at 
the sight of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist, but 
they would, nevertheless, be almost beside them- 
selves with amazement, and instead of entertaining 
a confident and childlike love and affection for Him, 
they would feel an excessive and oppressive fear of 
Him. As soon as the Queen of Saba saw Solomon 
sitting on his throne in all his regal splendor, she 
became breathless and fainted away. This was 
natural. That which is too splendid repels rather 
than attracts, and while an ordinary brightness 
pleases the eye, an intense, excessive brightness 
dazzles and blinds it. 0, what would happen, if 
the Son of God were to appear on the altar in His 
Divine Majesty, surrounded with heavenly light 
and glory? What eye could behold His bright- 
ness ? For, if even the few rays of light which our 
7 



74 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

Divine Saviour suffered to beam from His face on 
Mount Thabor, caused His disciples, intimate and 
familiar as they were with Him, to fall to the 
ground in amazement and dismay, who could bear 
in its full intensity, the glory of His countenance as 
it appears to the eternal but insatiable gaze of the 
Elect, and which forms the heaven of heaven itself? 
Ah ! in the glorious presence of Christ, even the 
just would be awe-stricken, nay, they would per- 
haps die from distress and fear. At all events, 
4hey would not dare to approach their Divine Sa- 
viour with love and affection. No one would ven- 
ture to draw near to Him, in order to converse with 
Him, and to explain to Him his wants. The un- 
fathomable Mystery of the Blessed Sacrament would 
no longer be amor amorum — (i. e. love of all love, 
as St. Bernard calls it) it could no longer be called 
a pledge of love between God and man ; but it 
would be a Sacrament of Glory and Majesty, before 
which we should be obliged to bend the knee, not 
in love and confidence, but in fear and trembling. 
But no ; our Divine Saviour, Who loves us so ex- 
cessively, would, in this Sacrament, deal in all kind- 
ness with just and pious souls, and would treat with 
them, not as a God of Majesty with His subjects, 
but as a good father with his beloved children, as a 
brother with his brothers, a friend with his confi- 
dential friend, a bridegroom with his bride. 

'^ Comedite^ amici^ et bibite et inebriamini, cariS" 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 75 

simi^'' says He to us. (Eat^ my friends, and drink, 
and be inebriated, my well-beloved!) ''Veniie ad 
me omnes, qui lahoratis et onerati estis, et ego rejiciam 
vos/' (Gome to Me all ye that labor and are heavy 
laden, and I will refresh you. Matt. chap. 11, v. 
28.) ^^Venite omnes/' come ye all, w^ithout excep- 
tion ; come ye poor and suffering ; come ye rich and 
prosperous ; come ye despised ; come ye honored 
ones of the eartli ; come ye servants and slaves ; 
come ye princes and masters ; come ye husbands 
and wives ; come ye parents and children ; come ye 
young men and young women ; come ye great and 
small ; come all, without any exception ; come ye 
My beloved children whom I have redeemed ; expose 
to Me your wants and your troubles ! Ego refi-ciam 
vos, I will refresh you, I will console you. Venite, 
come, then, come without fear ! I am w^aiting for 
you at all hours. 

Consider it well, dear Christian, in order that w^e 
may approach. Him with childlike confidence ; the 
most amiable and sweet heart of Jesus Christ 
invented this wonderful Sacrament, manifesting His 
love by concealing His Majesty and keeping Him- 
self hidden under the appearance of bread, as under 
a veil, whicb He suffers no single beam of His 
Divinity to pierce, lest He might so awe us as to 
prevent our confidential intercourse witli Him. '^ It 
is on account of our weakness,'' says Hugo de St. 
Victor, '^that He does not show Himself in the 



76 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

brightness of His Majesty. He acts towards us as 
a prince or a king^ who, having put aside his gar- 
ments of state, appears in the company of his sub- 
jects without the emblems of his rank, not expecting 
from them the exact observance of court etiquette, 
or demonstrations of so great respect, but intend- 
ing, on the contrary, to make merry and rejoice 
with them in all confidence and familiarity. 

good Lord ! great God ! how humbly dost 
Thou hide Thyself for our sake ! Bat alas ! how 
much is Thy bounty and love abused ! Not only do 
sinners despise Thee in this Thy Sacrament of love, 
because they see Thee not, but the good also, the 
just, treat Thee with indifference and coldness. 
Thou hast been so long with them, and they with 
Thee, and for want of a lively faith, they have not 
known Thee. So long hast Thou been with us, 
and there are so few who know it, so few who are 
penetrated with a sense of their unspeakable hap- 
piness. I hear Thee complain of us, dear Jesus^ 
as Thou didst one day complain to the Blessed Mar- 
garet Alacoque, when showing to her Thy heart 
crowned with thorns : '^ Behold this heart of Mine, 
so full of love for men, that it has shed its last drop 
of blood for them, and has given them My own 
flesh and blood as food and drink for their souls ; 
and consider how this heart receives from most 
men, in return for so great a love, nothing but in- 
gratitude and contempt ! But what grieves Me 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 77 

most is, that I am thus treated even by good and 
just souls/' Do you not understand, dear Chris- 
tian, the just complaint of your Divine Saviour? 
Is your heart not touched by it? "^^ Behold/' says 
He, ^^ behold this heart which loves men so exces- 
sively ; this heart which is always pouring out graces 
upon them ; this heart, so full of pity to receive sin- 
ners, to help the poor and indigent ; to cure the sick ; 
to console the afflicted ; to hear the prayers of all 
men, at what time soever they come to ask; this 
heart which is almost beside itself with love — this 
heart is not known, it is despised : and what is the 
most piercing grief, even by those souls into which 
I have so often entered in Holy Communion/' 
Ah ! dear Christian, have you a heart ? Well, if 
it be not of stone or iron, let it be touched^ by this 
touching complaint of the heart of Jesus Christ in 
the Blessed Sacrament. Give to your Grod and Sa- 
viour what is due to Him. Eepay Him for the 
benefit of your creation ; repay Him for the benefit 
of your redemption ; for the benefit of the preser- 
vation of your life ; for the pains of His scourging ; 
for the agony of His crucifixion ; but, above all, 
repay Him, yes, in some measure, repay Him for 
the excessive love and affection which He bears you 
in the Blessed Sacrament. ^^ But how,'' you will 
ask ; ^^ how shall I pay my Jesus for His love to 
me? What can I give Him in return ?'' Nothing 
but love. Love demands love and is contented only 



18 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

with love. But it must be true love, that is^ such 
love as animates you to keep His commandments, 
and to avoid sin ; such love as impels you to re- 
ceive Him often in Holy Communion, and still 
oftener to visit Him in the Church. Ask of Him, 
then, so to detach your heart from all creatures^ 
that you may live only for Him Who came down 
from heaven to live and die for you. So doing, 
you may expect, with all confidence, that, in your 
last hour, your dear and amiable Saviour, Whom 
having not seen you have loved^ will come to meet 
you, calling you to Him by these sweet and consol- 
ing words : " Come thou good and faithful servant, 
come ; because thou hast been faithful in little 
things, I will place thee over many.'' '^ Come and 
see what thine eye has never seen ; come and hear 
what thine ear has never heard ; come and enjoy 
what on earth thy heart has never conceived ; come, 
enter into the joy of thy Lord forever and ever." 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 79 



CHAPTER IV. 

ON VISITING JESUS CHRIST IN THE BLESSED SACRAMENT. 

CC T-TTHERE is the new-born King of the Jews ?'' 
▼ V inquired the three Magi of Herod, king of 
Jerusalem. ^^ Where is He?'' they repeat in their 
great desire to find Him. We have seen His star 
in the East, and we have come to adore Him. Ah. ! 
tell us where He is ; we desire so much to see Hira ; 
we have made so long a journey in order to become 
acquainted with Him.'' What a joy must it not 
have been for these three holy kings to learn that 
the Saviour of the world was born in Bethlehem ; 
Avith what speed must they not have gone thither 
to find out their true King, Who had caused the 
wonderful star to appear which led them to His 
abode. 

Beloved Christians, you have heard and read this 
incident among the many wonderful events in the 
life of our God and Saviour. On hearing, or read- 
ing the account, you have, perhaps, even earnestly 
desired to have lived at the time of the Apostles, 
in order that you might have had the happiness of 
seeing your Lord and Saviour. But you ought to 
know that you are happier now than if you had 



80 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

lived at the time of the Apostles, for you might 
have been obliged to travel very far, and make 
many inquiries to find out the place of His abode. 
But now there is no need of travelling far or of 
making many inquiries to find Him. He is, as v^e 
knov^ by faith, in our churches^ not far from our 
homes. The Magi could find Him in one place 
only ; we can find Him in every part of the world, 
wherever the Blessed Sacrament is kept. Are we, 
then, not happier than those who lived at the time 
of our Saviour Himself? Yes^ we are happier than 
they — no faithful soul can doubt it. But can we 
say also that we know how to avail ourselves of this 
happiness? Alas ! how many are there perhaps 
who must confess that, up to this day^ they have 
never visited Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament^ 
resembling Jutta, the niece of the Empress, St. 
Cunegunda, of whom it is related that she stayed at 
home, without any plausible reason, whilst the 
Blessed Sacrament was exposed in the church. St. 
Cunegunda, inflamed with holy indignation at this 
indifference, gave her niece a severe slap in the face. 
The Lord^ in punishment of Jutta' s indifference 
toward Him^ allowed the print of Cunegunda's 
fingers to remain indellibly stamped on her face. 
This was a life-long monitor for her. Such a moni- 
tor, however, is not given to every one to remind 
him of his duty towards Jesus Christ in the Blessed 
Sacrament ; I will, therefore^ set forth some reasons 



OUR GREATESr TREASURE. 81 

which ought to induce every faithful soul to show^ 
for the future, more fervor, gratitude and love for 
her Divine Saviour, by often visiting Him in this 
mystery of love, and by asking of Him graces, not 
only for herself, but especially for all those who are 
cold and indifferent towards the excessive love and 
patience of their God hidden under the Sacramental 
species, 

If there be one consideration which, more than 
all others, ought to induce you often to visit Jesus 
Christ in the church, it is the thought of the exces- 
sive love which He bears to us in this adorable mys- 
tery of His love. ^^ It is my delight to be with the 
children of men," says our Divine Saviour in Holy 
Writ. 0, what great condescension it would be for 
a king to invite a poor man to come to his palace 
and to keep com]3any with him ! But Jesus Christ, 
the King of heaven and earth, says : ^' Come all ye 
that labor and are burdened, and I will refresh 
you." (St. Matt. 11, 28.) Ought we not to look 
upon it as a great grace and favor to be invited into 
His presence ? Surely, we ought to find our delight 
in His company, since He is delighted to be in ours. 
We ought to go to Him frequently and say to Him : 
^^My Jesus, why dost Thou love me so much? 
What good dost Thou see in me that thou art so 
enamored of me? Hast Thou already forgotten 
the sins by which I have offended Thee so griev- 
ously? 0, how can I love anything else than 



82 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

Thee^ my Jesus and my All ? No one has ever 
done so much to make me happy as Thou hast 
done, amiable^ most amiable Jesus ! Never let 
me love anything but Thee/' If you had a friend 
who always wished you well, and who had promised 
to help you in all your wants, and who would even 
take great pleasure in the opportunity of bestow- 
ing a benefit upon you, you would undoubtedly be 
a^cting ungratefully if you did not have recourse to 
him in your necessities. But where, I ask, can you 
find a better, a more faithful, or a more liberal 
friend than Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament? 
one who more sincerely wishes you well ; one who 
consults more your advantage and happiness ; one 
who grants your petitions with greater readiness 
and pleasure? Ought you not, then, to feel drawn 
to go after your King and best Friend, in order to 
show your gratitude to Him ? 

What would you say if a rich man should come 
and take up his abode in the neighborhood of a 
poor beggar, for no other purpose than to make it 
more easy for the poor man to receive from him re- 
lief in all his necessities ? What would you say of 
such a lord? '^Oh!" you would exclaim, ^^how 
good, how exceedingly good he is ! He deserves to 
be honored^, esteemed^ praised and loved by all 
men. How happy is the poor man who has such a 
lord for his friend !'' But while, in fact, none of 
the rich of this world have ever gone so far in love 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 83 

to the poor, Jesus Christ, the King of heaven and 
esrthj has gone so far in His love for us poor sin- 
ners ; He takes up His abode in our churches for 
the convenience of each one of us. how happy 
we are ! Would to God that each of us availed 
himself of this happiness by frequently visiting 
Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. Thus, at 
least, the saints have ever shown their gratitude. 
St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzis, as we read in her 
life, visited Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament 
thirty times a day. The Countess of Feria, a fer- 
vent disciple of the venerable Father Avila, and 
afterwards a nun of the Order of Poor Clares, was 
called the Spouse of the Blessed Sacrament, from 
her fervent and lengthened visits to It. Being once 
asked what she did during the many hours which 
she spent before Its sacred presence, she replied : 
''I could remain there for all eternity! Is there 
not there the very essence of Grod which is the 
food of the blessed ? Good God ! They ask what 
we do before Thee ? What is there that we do not 
do? We love, w^e praise, we give thanks, we en- 
treat. What does a beggar do in the presence of a 
rich man ? What does the sick man do when he 
sees his physician ? or one who is thirsty at a run- 
ning spring ? or a starving man at a plentiful ta- 
ble?'' 

St. Elizabeth, of Hungary, w^as accustomed, even 
in her childhood, often to visit Jesus Christ in the 



84 THE BLESSED EUCHAKIST 

Blessed Sacrament. If she found the church closed, 
she would affectionately kiss the lock of the door 
and the walls of the church for love of Jesus Christ 
in the Most Holy Eucharist. 

St. Alphonsus being unable, on account of his 
advanced age, to walk to the church, had himself 
carried thither in a chair, in order to pay his accus- 
tomed visit to his beloved Saviour. 

Father Louis la Nusa, a great Missionary of 
Sicily, was, even when a young student in the world, 
so much attached to Jesus Christ, that it seemed as 
if he could hardly tear himself from the presence of 
his beloved Lord, on account of the great delight 
he found there ; and being commanded by his direc- 
tor not to remain before the Blessed Sacrament 
longer than an hour at a time, when that period 
had elapsed it was as great a violence to him to 
separate from the bosom of Jesus, as for an infant 
to tear itself from its mother's breast. The writer 
of his life says, that, when he was forced to leave 
the church, he would stand looking at the altar and 
turning, again and again, as if he could not take 
leave of his Lord, whose presence was so sweet and 
so consoling. 

Father Salesio, of the Society of Jesus, felt con- 
solation in even speaking of the Blessed Sacrament. 
He never could visit it often enough. When sum- 
moned to the gate, when returning to his room, or 
passing from one part of the house to another, he 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 85 

made use of all these opportunities to repeat liis 
visits to his beloved Lord^ so that it was remarked 
that scarcely an hour of the day elapsed without 
his visiting Him. Thus, at length he merited the 
grace of martyrdom at the hands of heretics, while 
defending the Keal Presence in the Most Holy 
Sacrament. Oh, how do these examples of the 
Saints confound us, who have so little love for Jesus 
Christ and are so negligent in visiting Him ! But 
some one may say, ^''I have too much to do ; I am 
busy ; I cannot find time.'' Dear Christian, do not 
say, '^I have too much to do,'' but say, ^' I have 
too much love and affection for the goods of this 
world, and too little love for Jesus Christ." You 
find time to eat and to drink ; you find time to rest 
and to sleep ; you find time to talk and to laugh ; 
time to amuse yourself ; time for all your temporal 
affairs ; time even to sin. And how is it, that you 
find time for all these things ? It is because you 
like them. If you appear but seldom before Jesus 
Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, it is an evident 
sign that you love Him but little. Love Him a 
little more, and you will find time to visit Him. 
Do not say, '^ I am busy." The Saints, too, were 
very busy ; perhaps, more so than you are, and yet 
they found time enough to visit their Lord. Do 
you imagine that you have more to think of than 
St. Wenceslaus, King of Poland ? or St. Lewis, 
King of France? And yet because they tenderly 
8 



86 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

loved Jesus Christ, their King, they found time 
every day to pay a visit to Him. Be sure, if you 
do not visit Jesus Christ at all, or if you visit Him 
but seldom, your love and affection for Him are not 
great. I repeat^ then, once more : Love your Lord 
and God in the Blessed Sacrament a little more, 
and I am sure you will be found oftener before the 
altar. 

Again, do not say, ^"^I have too much to do/' 
It is for this very reason that you should feel 
obliged to visit your Saviour. For the laboring and 
heavy laden are invited by Jesus Christ to come to 
Him : ^^ Come to Me all ye that labor and are heavy 
laden, and I will refresh you.'' '' Instead of being 
kept away from Me by your numerous toils and 
labors,'' He seems to say to you, you should rather 
feel drawn to Me, in order to speak to Me about 
them. Come and tell Me all your troubles, re- 
commend to Me all your affairs, and I will bless 
them that they may succeed. The Saints under- 
stood this well ; they knew and were persuaded 
that on God's blessing depends everything ; they 
knew that if God did not bless their temporal 
affairs, they w^ould not succeed, nay, that they 
would be even injurious and hurtful to their souls. 
Whenever St. Vincent of Paul had to transact any 
important business, he would go before the Blessed 
Sacrament and recommend the affair to Jesus Christ, 
beseeching Him confidently to give it His blessing, 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 87 

and after having performed it, -he went again to the 
church to thank Jesus Christ for its success. Before 
the Blessed Sacrament St. Francis Xavier, too, 
found strength for his toils in India. Whilst his 
days were passed in saving souls, he passed much 
of the night in prayer before the Blessed Sacra- 
ment. 

St. John Francis Eegis used to do the same ; and 
if he found the church closed, he would console 
himself by kneeling at the door, even in the cold 
and wet, that he might, at least at a distance, pay 
his homage to his sacramental Consoler. When 
any affliction befell St. Francis of Assisium, he 
went immediately to communicate it to Jesus in the 
Blessed Sacrament. The Blessed Bertha, of Ober- 
ried in Alsace^, being one day asked by one of her 
sisters in religion, how she could discharge so many 
distracting duties without prejudice to her piety, 
replied : ^^ Whenever I am entrusted with an office, 
I go to Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. He 
is my Comforter, my Lord and best Counsellor, and 
I do carefully what He inspires me to do. He gov- 
erns me, and it is by Him that I govern those whom 
He has confided to me.'' Do you^ Christian, 
understand this language? Do you understand 
how the blessing of heaven is to be obtained upon 
your affairs and undertakings? Oh, were you to 
visit Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament only for 
a quarter of an hour each day, from how many trials 



88 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

and hardships would you be delivered, from how 
many accidents^ misfortunes, temptations and at- 
tacks of the devil would you be preserved ; how few 
sins would you commit, and how much more conso- 
lation and peace of heart would you enjoy! 

^^How true it is/' you would exclaim, '^what 
Jesus Christ has said : ' Seek first the Kingdom of 
God, and the rest will be added unto you/'' 
*' Ah," you would say, ^'' since I have been in the 
habit of going to church every day, I labor only 
half as much as before, and yet I have more success 
than when I used to labor day and night by the 
sweat of my brow." 

Instead, then, of spending your time in idle, 
useless talk, in games and amusements, go to 
church and pray there for a while, in order to draw 
down the blessing of heaven upon you and your 
w^hole family. Eest assured^ that you will ex- 
perience what so many holy souls have experienced 
whilst before the Blessed Sacrament, namely, that 
you will feel a thousand times happier in the com- 
pany of Jesus Christ than in the most delightful 
company of men. Men can only aiford you vain 
consolations, but Jesus Christ has His hands full of 
lasting consolations and divine graces, which He is 
ready, to pour out upon your soul, if you present 
yourself before Him. 

One day as Frederic IV., King of Prussia, was 
passing through the Ehenish Province, a certain 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 89 

cow-herd approached the Eoyal carriage, and com- 
menced playing as artistically as he could on his 
rude horn. The King, admiring the simplicity and 
token of honor of the cow-herd, presented him with 
a piece of money, to repay him for the loyalty he 
had exhibited towards his Sovereign. Now, if this 
earthly Prince so readily rewarded this slight act of 
honor, how much more readily will not our Lord 
pour out His graces upon all those wlio come to 
honor Him in the Blessed Sacrament, for ever so 
short a time. Our Lord manifested this readiness 
to Blessed Balthasar Alvarez, when once kneeling 
before the altar. He showed Himself in the sacred 
host as a little child with His hands full of precious 
stones, saying: ^^If there were only some one to 
whom I might distribute them." Are you, then, 
in temporal want ? Go to Jesus Christ in the 
Blessed Sacrament ; He can and He will help you. 
St. Peter, of Allantara, one day, seeing his breth- 
ren in religion destitute of bread, and without the 
means of procuring it, ordered them to go and pray 
before the Blessed Sacrament. No sooner had they 
done so, than the bell was rung at the door, and 
the janitor, on opening the door, instead of seeing 
some person there, as he expected, found a large 
basket of white bread, which Jesus Christ had sent 
them, probably, by His angels. When the soldiers 
of the Emperor Frederic II. were in the act of 
scaling the walls of Assisium, in order to sack the 
8* 



90 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

city, St. Clare we.nt before the Blessed Sacrament 
and prayed there in the following manner: ^^0, 
Lord, shall, then. Thy servants be delivered up 
into the hands of the infidels?" '^No,'' said Jesus 
Christ to her, ^'I have always protected you and 
will continue to do so/' At the same moment 
some of the soldiers took to flight, being struck 
with an inward terror ; others fell down from the 
walls, Avhile others became suddenly blind. Maxi- 
milian I., Emperor of Austria, having ascended 
the steep mountains in the neighborhood of Ins- 
bruck to so great a height, that he could neither 
venture to descend again, nor could any one come 
to his aid, cried out to the people below to bring 
the Blessed Sacrament as near to him as possible, 
in order (as in his great peril he was unable to 
receive It) that he might at least honor It as well 
as he could by adoring It and recommending him- 
self to Jesus Christ from the rock above. Accord- 
ingly, the Blessed Sacrament is carried thither ; 
the Emperor adores It with most profound respect 
and great devotion, and implores Jesus Christ to 
help him. What happens? No sooner had the 
Emperor commenced to pray to Jesus in the Blessed 
Sacrament, than he saw a beautiful youth behind 
him, probably his guardian angel, who led him 
safely down among the most frightfully steep rocks, 
"by a path hitherto unperceived, and when the Em- 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 91 

peror was about to reward him, he suddenly dis- 
appeared. (DauroltiuSj c. 3, tit. 37.) 

Many similar facts occur in church history and in 
the lives of the Saints. Now^ if Jesus Christ is so 
ready to help us in our temporal wants, how much 
more readily will He bestow spiritual graces and 
favors upon our souls. Whence did St. Thomas 
Aquinas draw all that knowledge which enabled 
him to write so learnedly on every subject of our 
holy religion ? Was it not from the fervent prayers 
which he used to pour out in the presence of the 
Blessed Sacrament whenever he had a difficulty in 
understanding or explaining a point? Whence 
have so many pious souls obtained strength to resist 
every kind of temptation ? Was it not from the 
frequent visits which they paid to Jesus in the 
Most Holy Sacrament ? Father Thomas Sanchez^ 
w^ho was in the habit of visiting the church five 
times a day and eight times on Thursdays, used to 
exclaim whenever he was tempted: ^STesus in the 
Blessed Sacrament, help me;'' and no sooner had 
he pronounced these w^ords than his temptation 
ceased. One day a young man said to a priest of 
our Congregation: '^When the devil assails me 
with bad thoughts and impure representations, and 
I command him in the Name of Jesus Christ in the 
Blessed Sacrament to leave me, he instantly with- 
draws from me." 

And again, when^ God sent forth Missionaries to 



92 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

convert sinners, heretics^ infidels, whitlier did they 
go to obtain their conversion ? Certainly, to that 
place where He resides, Who can change all hearts, 
how hardened soever they may be. We read in 
the life of St. Francis de Sales, that nine hundred 
heretics presented themselves to him to abjure their 
heresy after he had prayed with the faithful during 
the forty hours' devotion. A few days after, hav- 
ing prayed with the people most humbly and fer- 
vently for the same object, a great many heretics 
of the suburbs of Focigni came to abjure their 
heresy. Their example was followed by three hun- 
dred more of the parish of Belevaux, and three 
hundred of the parish of St. Sergues. Therefore, 
one of the best means to convert sinners is to 
recommend them to Jesus Christ in the Blessed 
Sacrament. 

You have heard and read that there have been 
Saints who burned so ardently with the fire of 
divine love, that they often trembled in their whole 
body, and that the objects which they touched bore 
the impress of this fire of divine love. This we 
read in the lives of St. Philip Neri, St. Catherine, 
of Genoa, and St. Wenceslaus, King of Poland. 
The latter loved Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament 
with so much fervor^ that, with his own hands, he 
gathered the wheat and the grapes and made the 
hosts and the wine which were to be used in the 
Mass. He often went at night, even in winter, to 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 93 

visit the church in which the Blessed Sacrament 
was kept. At such times the flames of divine love 
were burning so ardently in his soul, that they 
communicated to his body a sensible warmth and 
melted the snow under his feet. He turned this 
gift on one occasion to a charitable account. His 
servant, who accompanied him by night, suffered 
much from the severity of the cold, whereupon the 
holy man ordered him to follow closely and tread 
in his foot-steps. He did so, and no longer felt the 
coldness of the snow. 

Now, where did the Saints obtain this inestimable 
gift of the love of God? Do you think, perhaps, 
in conversation with men ? Oh no ; it was from 
conversing frequently with Jesus Christ in the 
Blessed Sacrament. The oftener and the longer 
they conversed with Him, the more they felt their 
hearts inflamed with divine love. How were so 
many souls enlightened to see and to know the 
vanity of this world ? How did they find strength 
and courage to leave all the comforts of their homes, 
and to lead a holy, mortified, poor and despised 
life ? Whence this great grace ? It was derived 
from their frequent conversations with Jesus Christ 
in the Blessed Sacrament. Listen to what St. Al- 
phonsus. Bishop of St. Agatha in Italy, that great 
lover of the Blessed Sacrament, says about this : 
^^ Nowhere have holy souls made more admirable 
resolutions than here at the feet of their hidden 



94 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

God. Out of gratitude to my Jesus, veiled in this 
great Sacrament, I must declare, that it was through 
this devotion, visiting Him in His tabernacles, that 
I withdrew from the world, where, to my misfor- 
tune, I had lived to the age of twenty-six. Happy 
will you be, if you can separate yourself from it 
earlier than I did, and give yourself wholly to that 
Lord Who has given Himself wholly to you. I re- 
peat it — you will be happy, not only in eternity, 
but even in this life. Believe me, all else is folly — 
banquets, plays, parties, amusements — these are 
enjoyments full of bitterness and remorse ; trust 
one, who has tried them, and who weeps that he 
did so. I assure you that the soul, by remaining, 
with any degree of recollection, before the Blessed 
Sacrament, receives more comfort from Jesus than 
the world with all its pleasures and pastimes can 
ever afford. What delight to be before the altar 
with faith, and with even a little tender love, 
and to speak familiarly to Jesus, Who is there to 
hear and grant the prayers of those who visit Him ; 
to implore pardon for our sins ; to lay our wants 
before Hira^ as one friend does before another whom 
he fully trusts ; to beg for His grace^ His love. His 
paradise. Above all, what a heaven, to make acts 
of love to this Lord Who remains on the altar, 
praying to His Eternal Father for us, and burning 
with love towards us ! In a word, you will find 
that the time you spend devoutly before this divine 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 95 

Sacrament, will be the most useful of your life, and 
that which will most console you in death^ and for 
eternity. You will, perhaps, gain more in a quar- 
ter of an hour's prayer before the Blessed Sacra- 
ment than in all the other spiritual exercises of 
the day. God does, indeed, grant, in every place, 
the petitions of those who pray to Him ; He has 
promised to do so: '^Ask and it shall be given 
you.'' (Matt. vii. 7.) But in the Most Holy Sac- 
rament, Jesus dispenses favors more abundantly to 
those who visit Him. But of what use are mere 
words? ^' Taste and see." 

To this little exhortation I can add nothing more 
'consoling, nothing more encouraging or more per^ 
suasive. I will but repeat once more His words : 
^^ Taste and see." Go often with devotion to visit 
Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, and after a while 
you will experience the truth of what St. Alphon- 
sus has said, nay, perhaps, it may even be given to 
you to feel transports of joy and gladness such as 
the Saints have experienced in the presence of the 
Blessed Sacrament, and to exclaim, in the fulness 
of consolation, with the blessed Gerard, (a lay- 
brother of the Congregation of the Most Holy Ee- 
deemer) : ^^Lord, let me go, let me go" — or with 
St. Francis Xavier : '^It is enough. Lord, it is 
enough" — or with St. Aloysius Gonzaga : ^^ With- 
draw from me, Lord, withdraw from me." 

But, most assuredly, there is one hour when the 



93 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

remembrance of the visits you have paid to the 
Blessed Sacrament will give you indescribable plea- 
sure — the hour of your death. And if you never, 
at any other time, feel remorse for neglecting this 
great duty, certainly you will feel it when your 
soul has left the body, and you know how near you 
have been to Jesus Christ on earth. with what 
shame and confusion will you not be covered when 
Jesus will say to you : ^^ I was a stranger and you 
received Me not." I was so near to you and you 
visited Me not. You have treated Me as an out- 
cast ; you have not conversed with Me, nor asked 
graces of Me ; you have left Me alone ; you have 
thought of Me but seldom, or not adt all. How con- 
fused, I say, will you feel at such a well-deserved 
reproach ! Save yourself this shame and confusion ; 
resolve, from henceforth, daily to spend some time, 
say an half hour or a quarter of an hour at least, 
in church, in the presence of Jesus Christ in the 
Most Holy Sacrament. 

And, at the hour of death, He will say to you : 
^^I was, indeed, a stranger to many lukewarm 
Christians, but not to you ; you came to visit Me ; 
you kept company with Me on earth ; you shall, 
from henceforth, enjoy My Presence in heaven for- 
ever and ever.'' 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 97 



CHAPTER V. 

ON THE GREAT DESIRE OF JESUS CHRIST TO ENTER INTO 
OUR HEARTS IN HOLY COMMUNION. 

I]S" a preceding chapter I treated of the great love 
which Jesus Christ has shown us in the institu- 
tion of the Holy Eucharist^ and because love de- 
mands love in return, I went on to prove how this 
condescension of His places us under the obligation 
of visiting Him frequently, and of paying reverence 
to Him in this Sacrament of His love. Jesus Christ, 
however, is not satisfied with the visits and reve- 
rence which we pay to Him. He wishes especially 
that we should receive Him in Holy Communion ; 
this is indeed His chief object in remaining among 
us under the Sacramental species. Now, if you 
ask why it is that Jesus Christ wishes us to receive 
Him, I answer, it is because He so ardently desires 
to be united to us. Yes, strange as it may seem, 
our Lord's heart yearns to be united to ours. He 
burns with the desire of being loved by us. Holy 
Scripture represents Him as standing at the door 
of our hearts, knocking until we open to Him. 
This great desire of Jesus Christ to enter into our 
hearts in Holy Communion, will be the subject of 
9 



98 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

our present consideration ; but I must begin by ac- 
knowledging my entire inability to describe it as it 
really is. That, indeed, would simply be impossi- 
ble. No tongue can express the longing of our 
Saviour to unite Himself to us. I will merely en- 
deavor to point out some of the ways in which He 
manifests this desire, and I am sure that this effort 
of mine, as well as your devout attention, dear 
reader, will cause great joy to the loving heart of 
Jesus, Whose desire that we should know His love^ 
is as great as His love itself. The first proof, then, 
of our Lord's great longing to enter into our hearts 
in Holy Communion is His own declaration. When 
He was about to institute the Holy Eucharist, He said 
to His disci]3les : ''With desire I have desired to 
eat this Pasch with you,'' thereby expressing, ac- 
cording to the commentary of St. Lawrence Justi- 
nian, His most ardent wish, His most earnest de- 
sire to unite Himself to us in Holy Communion. 
And what He expressed in so touching a manner at 
the Last Supper, He as often declared in other 
ways. 

One day, as St. Gertrude was meditating on the 
greatness of the love which made the Lord and 
King of heaven find His delight in the society of 
the children of men, our Saviour illustrated what 
seemed to her so incomprehensible by the following 
comparison : The son of a king is surely much 
higher and greater than the children who run 



OUR GREATESr TREASURE. 99 

about the streets ; he has in his father's palace 
everything that can delight and gratify him ; yet, 
if you give him the choice either to go out and play 
with the children in the street, or to stay at home 
amid the splendors of his father's court, he will 
certainly prefer the former. '^ Thus I too/' said 
our Lord, ^^ find my pleasure in being with you ; 
and having instituted the Blessed Sacrament for 
this end, any one who prevents a soul from receiv- 
ing Me, deprives Me of a great pleasure." He also 
said to St. Matilda: ^^ Look at the bees and see 
with what eagerness they seek the honey-flowers, 
3^et know that my desire to come to you in Holy 
Communion is far greater.'' Nay, He declared to 
St. Margaret of Cortona, that He would even re- 
ward her Confessor, and that richly too, for having 
advised her to receive Holy Communion frequently ; 
and Father Antonio Torres, as we read in his life, 
appeared, shortly after death, in great splendor, to 
a certain person^ and revealed to him that God had 
increased his glory in heaven in a special manner 
for having allowed frequent Communion to his pen- 
itents. Most remarkable is that promise of Jesus 
Christ by which He induced the Blessed Pruden- 
tiana Zagnoni (a nun of the order of St. Clare,) to 
receive the Blessed Sacrament frequently. ^'If 
thou wilt receive Me often in Holy Communion," 
said He, '^ I will forget all thy ingratitude towards 
Me." 



100 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

Words and promises of our Lord like these are 
indeed powerful arguments to convince us of His 
excessive desire to enter our hearts in Holy Com- 
munion ; but the extraordinary miracles which He 
has performed, in order to enable His servants to 
receive Him frequently in Holy Communion, are 
still more pow^erful arguments. St. Theresa, at one 
period of her life, was aflSicted with a severe sick- 
ness, attended with vomiting, which occurred regu- 
larly every morning and evening. What most dis- 
tressed her was_, that this illness prevented her from 
receiving Holy Communion. In this affliction she 
had recourse to our Lord^ and He, Whose desire to 
come into her heart was far greater than hers to 
receive Him, was pleased to cure her. But, as if to 
show for what purpose the relief was granted. He 
only delivered her from the attack to which she 
was subject in the morning, leaving her subject to 
that w^hich usually came on in the evening. A 
similar difficulty prevented St. Juliana Falconieri 
from receiving our Lord when her last hour had 
come. After having thought of every possible 
means of satisfying her desire for Communion, she 
at last entreated her Confessor to bring the sacred 
host near her that she might at least humbly kiss 
it. This being refused her, she begged that it 
might be laid upon her breast, in order that her 
heart might feel some refreshment from being near 
to Jesus^ and when the priest, in compliance with 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 101 

her request, spread the corporal on her breast and 
laid our Lord upon it, she exclaimed with the great- 
est delight: ^^0 my sweet Jesus T' As she drew 
her last breath, the sacred host had disappeared, 
and as it was not to be found, the bystanders were 
sure that our Saviour, in the Blessed Sacrament, 
had united Himself to her heart, to strengthen her 
in her passage and accompany her to heaven. 

In the eighth chapter of the life of St. Lawrence 
Justinian, it is related that there lived in Venice a 
nun who was prevented from receiving Jesus Christ 
on the feast of Corpus Christi. Being much grieved 
thereat, she besought St. Lawrence at least to re- 
member her at Mass. Our Lord could not allow 
her piety to go unrewarded. Accordingly, while 
the holy Patriarch was saying Mass in the crowded 
church, the nun saw him enter her cell with the 
Blessed Sacrament to give her Holy Communion. 
At other times our Lord has made the miracle still 
more remarkable, by employing the ministry of 
an Angel or a Saint, instead of a priest, or by 
dispensing altogether with a visible agent. The 
Blessed Gerard Majella, lay-brother of the Congre- 
gation of the Most Holy Redeemer, when he was 
but nine years old, approached one day the com- 
munion-rail, whilst the priest was distributing Holy 
Communion, impelled by a strong desire to receive 
his Saviour ; but the priest, seeing his youth, asked 
him whether he had made his first Communion, 
9* 



102 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

and finding that he liad not, sent him away. But 
the good heart of Jesus could not suffer the child 
to hunger after Him in vain ; that very night our 
Lord's Body was brought to him by the Archangel 
St. Michael. In like manner St. Stanislaus Kostka 
was sick in the house of a Protestant relative, and 
debarred of every opportunity of receiving his be- 
loved Lord ; he made his appeal to the Queen of 
heaven, and obtained, through her intercession, 
the grace to receive the Blessed Sacrament at the 
hands of Sfc. Barbara. One day whilst St. Bone- 
venture w^as assisting at Mass, he felt an ardent 
desire to receive Holy Communion, but abstained, 
through fear of not being sufficiently prepared. 
Our Lord, however, could not refrain from gratify- 
ing His own desire ; when the priest had broken 
the Host, the Saint perceived that a small particle 
of it had come and rested on his tongue. I might 
multiply instances of such miraculous Communions, 
but those which I have adduced are sufficient to 
show how much our Lord has done in order to 
satisfy His wish to enter into our hearts in Holy 
Communion. I will, therefore, proceed to point 
out another way by w^hich He has manifested this 
desire, namely, the threats and the promises He 
has made in order to induce us to receive the 
Blessed Sacrament. 

When a law-giver wishes to insure the ob- 
servance of a law, he promises rewards to those 
who keep the law, and threatens with punish- 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 103 

ment those who violate it; and the greatness of 
these rewards and punishments is the measure of 
the importance which he attaches to the law. Now 
consider what our Lord has done to urge us ta 
receive Him frequently in the Blessed Sacrament. 
Not content with giving us the bare precept^ ^^Take 
and eat, for this is My Body/' He has added 
thereto the strongest inducements. AVhat more 
could He do to prevail upon us to receive Him^ than 
to promise us heaven if we do so. ^^He who eats 
My Flesh and drinks My Blood/' says He, ''shall 
have life everlasting.'' On the other hand He 
threatens us with hell if we refuse. ''Amen, 
Amen, I say unto you, unless you eat the Flesh of 
the Son of Man and drink His Blood, you shall not 
have life in you.'' Moreover, as He threatens with 
eternal torments those who never receive Him, or 
who do not receive Him when the precept of Com- 
munion requires it, so He also punishes, though 
less severely, those who, from negligence and indif- 
ference, refuse to receive Holy Communion as often 
as their state of life demands. While St. Mary 
Magdalen of Pazzi was praying one day before 
the Blessed Sacrament, she saw one of her deceased 
sisters in the choir, completely enveloped in a robe 
of fire and reverently adoring the Blessed Sacra- 
ment. By this the Saint was given to understand 
that the deceased nun was in purgatory, and that in 
penance she was to wear that mantle of fire, and ta 



104 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

adore the Blessed Sacrament for one hour every day, 
because in her lifetime she had often^ through negli- 
gence; omitted to receive Holy Communion. Now 
what do all these invitations, these promises, these 
rewards and punishments prove? What, hut the 
unutterable desire of Jesus Christ to unite Himself 
to us in Holy Communion. He seems, in a manner, 
to force us to receive Him. He makes our temporal 
and eternal welfare depend on our receiving Him, 
and thus makes use of our natural desire for happi- 
ness to bring us to His Altar. He seems to say, 
^^ If you do not receive Me, you shall have no 
health, no strength or vigor ; no comfert, peace or 
rest; no courage, zeal or devotion; you will be 
vehemently assailed by temptations which you will 
not have strength to resist ; you will commit mortal 
sin, lose My grace and friendship, and, becoming a 
slave of the devil, you will finally fall into hell 
and be unhappy forever." 

I do not know that I can add any proof of our 
Saviour's desire to enter our hearts in Holy Com- 
munion more striking than those v/hich I have 
already presented, but there yet remains one to be 
considered, which is certainly more affecting. I 
allude to the patience with which He has borne the 
insults which^ for eighteen hundred years, have 
been heaped upon Him in the Holy Eucharist. I 
will not offend you, dear reader, with the relation 
of the indignities which have been offered to our 



OUll GREATEST TREASURE. 105 

dear Lord in the Sacrament of His love ; it is too 
dark a page in the history of human depravity. 
Suffice it to say, that He has been loaded with 
almost every species of outrage which malice could 
suggest, or impiety perpetrate. Infidels, Jews,, 
heretics, and sometimes even nominal Catholics, 
have united together to insult Him. All the sor- 
rows which our Lord had to endure during His life 
on earth are repeated again and again in this Holy 
Mystery. Now^ why does Jesus Christ endure 
such affronts ? Surely none of us would be willing 
to remain with those who continually maltreat and 
persecute us ; a life in the desert, in the midst of 
extreme poverty and desolation, w^ould be prefera- 
ble to such a lot. Why, then, is our Saviour so 
patient amid so many outrages ? Is He not free to 
act as He pleases ? Is He forced to remain with 
us in the Blessed Sacrament? Yes, He is forced. 
He does, indeed, sometimes vindicate His honor, 
and visit irreverence with exemplary punishment^ 
but there is one point to which His anger never 
goes — He will never take back the gift of His love. 
Men may do what they will, but the desire of Jesus 
Christ to be united with us will always force Him 
to remain in the Blessed Sacrament. This is the 
secret of our Lord's endurance. He endures all 
things for the sake of the elect. All the outrages 
which the wicked have heaped upon Him are com- 
pensated for by one devout Communion, and He is. 



106 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

willing to remain in our churches, abandoned, alone 
for hours and hours, that He may be able to unite 
Himself with the first soul that comes hungering 
for the Bread of Life. 0, how true are the words 
which Jesus Christ sj)oke to His disciples at the Last 
-Supper ! '^^ With desire I have desired to eat this 
Pasch with you/' God desires that we should re- 
ceive Him. He commands us to receive Him ; He 
threatens us with hell if we refuse ; He punishes 
lis in purgatory if we are careless in receiving Him. 
He promises to forgive all our ingratitude, to remit 
the temporal punishment due to our sins, nay, to 
give us heaven itself if we only receive Him. He 
promises a special reward to those of His priests 
who encourage others to receive Him ; and, as if 
all this were not enough, He employs His x4ngels 
and Saints, yea, His own Omnipotence, to convey 
the Blessed Sacrament to those who are prevented 
from receiving Him. Shall we not respond to this 
desire of our Lord? Jesus, our King, the Creator 
•of heaven and earth, longs after us, and shall not 
we. His creatures and subjects, long after Him ? 
Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd, desires to feed 
His sheep, and shall not the sheep know His voice 
and follow Him? Ah, if we knew that some great 
and rich Prince had so set his heart on us as to 
find his happiness in dwelling with us, how impa- 
tiently would we expect his arrival, how eagerly 
would we count the davs and liours until he had 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. lOT 

come ! Now, Jesus Christ is far greater and richer 
than any earthly prince. What honor is so great 
as that of receiving our God and Saviour ? And 
shall ^e say : Delay, Lord ; come not now ; 
wait a little longer ! Alas ! that there should be 
any Christians who speak thus ! Can we conceive 
anything more extraordinary than that a man 
that believes and knows that God desires to unite^ 
Himself to his soul, should yet remain indifferent 
to so great a favor? Can anything show more 
clearly how the world and sin have usurped the- 
place of God in the human heart, and blinded it ta 
its true happiness ? Let me warn you, at least, dear 
reader, against such folly and ingratitude. If your 
own desire does not impel you to receive Holy Com- 
munion, at least let the desire of Jesus Christ urge 
you. Do not stay away because your love is cold ; 
go, and your love will grow warm. Begin by go- 
ing to please Him, and you will keep on to please 
yourself. This Sacrament is the great means of 
advancing in Divine love. Those who taste a little 
honey desire to eat more ; but those who know not 
its sweetness do not desire it afc all. In like man- 
ner, this heavenly banquet continually satisfies and 
creates spiritual hunger. The Saints, by often re- 
ceiving their Saviour, obtained such a longing de- 
sire to possess Him, as even to cause them suffering 
until it was satisfied. St. Theresa's desire for Holy 
Communion was so great that she used to say, that 



108 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

neither fire nor sword could deter her from receiv- 
ing her Divine Lord. St. Mary Magdalen of Pazzi 
nsed to go to that part of the Communion-rail where 
the priest came first to distribute the Blessed Sacra- 
ment, in order to receive our Lord as quickly as 
possible. St. Philip ISTeri was often unable to sleep 
at nighty on account of his great desire to receive 
Holy Communion. One night as Father Antonio 
Gallonio was about to give him Holy Communion, 
he held the sacred host in his hand for sometime ; 
at last St. Philip, unable to endure the delay any 
longer^ cried out : '^ Antonio, why do you hold my 
Lord in your hands so long? Why do you not 
give Him to me ? Why ? why ? Give Him to me ; 
give Him to me !'' It is also related that this saint, 
when taking the Precious Blood at Mass, used to 
lick and suck the chalice with s^uch aff*ection that it 
seemed as if he could not tear himself away from 
it. He gradually wore off the gilding on the rim 
of the chalice, and even left there the print of his 
teeth. But still more remarkable is that which is 
related of St. Alphonsus. Once, on Good Friday, 
being unable to receive Holy Communion, his afflic- 
tion was so great that a violent fever came on him ; 
his life was even in danger. The Doctor came and 
bled him, but there was no improvement until the 
next day, when the saint learned that he could 
again receive his Saviour. On receiving these joy- 
ful tidings, the fever immediately left him. '^Gus- 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 109 

tate et videte qiioniam suavis est JOominus/' Come, 
then, and taste this heavenly food for yourself. 
Let neither the example of others, nor the pleasures 
of the world, nor the coldness of your own heart 
deprive you of so rich a consolation. How truly 
does the author of the Imitation of Christ remark : 
^^If Jesus Christ were offered only in one city in 
the world, how cheerfully would men endure even 
hardships to go to that favored spot ! How would 
they long for the time when they could receive 
their God. Many holy pilgrims have undertaken 
long and arduous journeys, and have encountered 
dreadful perils by land and sea, only that they 
might be able to weep in the places in which our 
Saviour suffered, and to kiss the ground on which 
He trod. What is there, then, that should prevent 
you from receiving your Saviour Himself? Should 
you not be willing to sacrifice everything — to sacri- 
fice health and riches, and life itself, that you might 
be deemed worthy of so great a favor? So, at 
least, thought the Christians of other days. I need 
not refer you to the examples of the early Chris- 
tians — there are instances even in later times. la 
the time of the penal laws in England, under Queen 
Elizabeth, a Catholic nobleman was fined four hun- 
dred crowns for having received Holy Communion ; 
but, regardless of the iniquitous law, he continued 
to communicate, cheerfully paying the fine each 
time he was detected, although he was thereby 
obliged to sell two of his best estates. He declared 
10 



110 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

that he never siDent any money with greater joy 
than that which he was obliged to pay for the 
privilege of receiving his Lord. (Schmid's Histor. 
Catech.) Still more affecting is the example which 
is related of a dying man^ in the time of St. Charles 
BorromeOj Archbishop of Milan. A dreadful pes- 
tilence had broken out in the city^ and a certain 
man in the hospital of St. Gregory having been at- 
tacked by it, was soon reduced to the last extremity. 
In this state he was carried, more dead than alive, 
to a place Avhere the dead bodies were thrown before 
being buried. Life, however, was not yet quite ex- 
tinct, and, after a night spent in this horrible situ- 
ation, he heard, in the mornings the sound of the 
bell announcing the approach of the Blessed Sacra- 
ment. Seized with an ardent desire of receiving 
his Saviour, he extricated himself, with great diffi- 
culty, from the dead bodies that were piled upon 
him, and crawling to the feet of the priest who car- 
ried the Holy Viaticum, he conjured him to give 
him Holy Communion. The priest, touched with 
compassion, immediately communicated him, but 
the efforts the poor man had made were too much 
for his feeble strength, and while his lips were yet 
moving in prayer, and his eyes looking up to hea- 
ven, he fell back cold and lifeless at the feet of the 
priest. You^ dear reader, have no such efforts, no 
such sacrifices to make, in order to receive your 
Lord ; you need not undertake long journeys nor 
cross stormy seas and high mountains ; Jesus Christ 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. Ill 

is at your door ; yon have but to go to the church 
and you will find Him. You have everything to 
gain and nothing to lose in receiving a good Com- 
munion. Avail yourself, then, of so great a privi- 
lege. If you have communicated hitherto but sel- 
dom, communicate oftener for the future. Our 
Lord Himself solicits you ; He repeats the cry He 
uttered on the cross: ^^Sitio!" '*' I thirst.'' And 
for what does He thirst ? He thirsts for your heart ; 
He urges you as He did Zacheus : ^^ Make haste, 
for to-day I must abide in thy house.'' How ex- 
ceedingly great is the reward of those who obey 
this loving invitation ! Does not Jesus Christ de- 
clare that He will recompense those that receive 
Him and show mercy to Him in the person of the 
poor ? How" much more will He reward those that 
receive Him and shew mercy to Him in person. To 
such He will say : ^^ I was naked" in the Blessed 
Sacrament, stripped of my glory, and your faith^ 
reverence and devotion supplied what was wanting 
to My Majesty ; I was *^ imprisoned" in the form of 
bread and wine, and ^^ sick" with love for you, and 
you did lovingly visit Me and refresh Me ; I was a 
^^ stranger," unknown to the greater part of man- 
kind, and you gave Me your heart for My abode ; I 
was ^* hungry" and '^thirsty," consumed with the 
desire of possessing your affections entirely, and you 
satisfied My desire to the utmost. Come, then, 
blessed of My Father, possess the kingdom pre- 
pared for you from the foundation of the world. 



112 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 



CHAPTEE VI. 

ON PREPARATION FOR COMMUNION. 

IN order to receive the abundant fruits of the 
Holy Eucharist, a certain co-operation is re- 
quired on the part of the receiver : not, indeed, 
that the efficacy of the Sacrament^ considered in it- 
self, depends at all on the recipient — this efficacy it 
has entirely from God — but because its salutary 
effects, in each particular case, depends upon the 
disposition with which it is received. The co-ope- 
ration which is required on our part consists^ in 
general, in approaching it with a sincere desire to 
receive the graces which are imparted through it^ 
and, afterward, in turning them carefully to ac- 
count. In order to obtain this disposition, it is ad- 
visable to devote some time, before and after Com- 
munion, to preparation and thanksgiving. Of 
these, then, I will proceed to speak. First, of the 
preparation before Communion. When speaking 
of preparation for Communion, the previous quali- 
fication of being in the state of grace is always pre- 
supposed. It is related of the Emperor Frederic, 
that having, on one occasion, gone to visit a noble- 
man at his own castle, he was received into an 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 113 

apartment which was thickly hung with cobwebs ; 
whereupon, being transported with rage, he imme- 
diately left the house, exclaiming: ^^This room is 
better fitted for a dog-kennel than for the chamber 
of an emperor!" How much more justly might 
Jesus Christ feel indignant at being received into a 
soul defiled with mortal sin ? ^^ He Whose eyes are 
pure and cannot behold iniquity ! ' ' Accordingly, St. 
Paul teaches us that we must prove ourselves before 
we eat of the Body of the Lord, meaning thereby, 
that if, upon examination, we find ourselves guilty 
of any grievous sin, we should cleanse our con- 
science by a good confession. There are certain 
snakes, says St. Bernard, which spit out the poison 
that is in their mouths before they begin to drink ; 
and we, before approaching the fountain of Life, 
must spit out the poison of sin. This preparation, 
as I have said, is always pre-supposed, and every 
Catholic knowing it to be an indispensable requisite, 
it will not, therefore, be necessary to dwell longer 
upon it, especially as occasion will be taken to 
speak of it hereafter. I have said we must be 
free from mortal sin, for it is this only which 
absolutely renders us incapable of receiving the 
fruits of Communion ; but venial sins, especially 
those which are fully deliberate, and even volun- 
tary imperfections, greatly hinder the efficacy of 
the Sacrament. One who now and then speaks 
in disparagement of his neighbor, or tells petty 
10* 



114 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

falsehoods, though he may not commit a mortal 
sin yet deprives himself of many graces which he 
wonld otherwise have received. 

The first step in our preparation for Communion, 
after we have been reconciled to God, is an habitual 
effort to please Him. It is, moreover, carefully to 
be noticed^ that, in order to receive the full extent 
of grace attached to this Sacrament, our hearts 
must be free from all inordinate affections. St. 
Gertrude, on one occasion, asked our Lord how she 
ought to prepare for Holy Communion, and He re- 
plied : '- I ask nothing more than that you should 
come with an empty heart.'' 

There is also another disposition, which is always 
pre-supposed, pertaining to the body. No one can 
receive the Flesh of Christ unless he be fasting, 
that is to say, unless he has abstained from eating 
or drinking anything whatsoever from the preced- , 
ing midnight ; the only exception to this rule being ' 
when the Holy Communion is administered to the 
dying by way of Viaticum. This law of the Church, 
which is intended to secure greater reverence for the 
Blessed Sacrament, is founded on the most evident 
reasons of propriety, so much so that St. Augus- 
tine takes it for granted that no Christian would be 
guilty of the indecency of taking anything into his 
mouth before the Body of the Lord has entered it. 
(Epist. 54.) Besides this requisite. Christians gen- 
erally employ a longer or a shorter time^ according 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 115 

to their ability^ in actual preparation ; and of this 
it will be useful to speak more particularly. 

Having treated, in a former chapter, of the duty 
of reverence towards the Blessed Sacrament, I deem 
it useless to prove here, at great length, the pro- 
priety of making some actual preparation for Com- 
munion. Common sense is enough to teach every 
man that it is. not becoming to receive His God 
into his heart without previous preparation. I sup- 
pose you have, at some time, witnessed the public 
reception of some great man, whom the people wish 
to honor — some distinguished warrior, or successful 
candidate, or great orator. What a crowd in the 
streets ! What anxiety to secure a place for seeing ! 
What a cry and tumult on all sides ! And when the 
hero of the day arrives, what eagerness to get a sight 
of him ! How dense the crowd becomes behind him ! 
How happy they on whom he smiles, or to whom he 
speaks ! How greatly envied is the favored citizen 
with whom he will take up his abode ! What hur- 
ry, and bustle, and excitement in the house where 
he is to lodge ! Now, stop and ask yourself, for 
whom is all this ? For a man — a poor, weak, mor- 
tal man. And I, alas! with unconcern, receive 
Him Who is the ^^ Splendor of His Father's Glory 
and the Figure of His Substance!" 

When king David was asked why he had pre- 
pared such a vast quantity of gold, silver and pre- 
cious stones for the temple he was about to erect,. 



116 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

he answered : ^^ The work is great : for a house is. 
not prepared for man^ but for God/' And yet, in 
that Temple the Holy of Holies^ the Ark of the 
Covenant and the manna were but shadows. We 
have the true Holy of Holies^ the Living Manna, 
the Life-giving Bread that came down from heaven ! 
Should we not, then, exert all our care in arranging 
a dwelling-place for this Divine Guest! '^When 
thou shalt sit to eat wdth a prince/' says the wise 
king Solomon, ^^ consider diligently what is set be- 
fore thy face/' How much more diligently ought 
we to consider what we are about to do, when we 
appear at the table of the great King of heaven and 
earth, to feed on the Flesh of His beloved Son ! 
This reflection, so natural and obvious, is sufficient 
to show us the propriety of some actual preparation 
for Communion. To this I will add another reflec- 
tion to show its great utility. It is in the highest 
degree advantageous to prepare ourselves for Holy 
Communion, because the fruit it produces depends 
on the disposition with which we receive it. Di- 
vines use the following figure in illustration : as 
wood, that is not seasoned, will not burn well, be- 
cause the moisture that is in it resists the action of 
the fire, so the hearty which is full of earthly affec- 
tions, is not in a fit state to be enkindled with the 
living fire of Divine Love by means of this Holy 
Sacrament. 

Father Lallemant says, that many souls are al- 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 117 

most as little benefitted "by the Holy Eucharist as 
the walls of the church in which it is preservedj 
because they are as hard and as cold as the very 
walls themselves. And St. Bernard concisely ex- 
presses the same truth, by saying: '^Sicut tu Deo 
apparueris, ita tihi Deus apparehit/' '^ God will ex- 
hibit Himself to you just as you show yourself dis- 
posed towards Him." When, therefore^ people 
complain of receiving but little fruit from their 
Communions^ they but betray their own negligence. 
As the light of the sun far exceeds the light of the 
moon, so do the eifects of the Holy Eucharist in a 
loving heart greatly surpass those which it produces 
in a tepid, slothful soul. The well-known story of 
Widikend, Duke of Saxony, illustrates this. This 
prince, while yet a pagan, was at war with Charle- 
magne ; having a great curiosity to see what took 
place among the Christians, he disguised himself as 
a pilgrim and stole into their camp. It happened 
to be the Paschal time, and the whole army were 
making their Easter Communion. The stranger 
watched the ceremonies of Mass with interest and 
admiration, but how much was he surprised, when 
the priest administered the Sacrament, to see in the 
host an Infant of shining beauty ! He gazed at the 
sight with amazement ; but his astonishment be- 
came yet greater when he saw that this wonderful 
child entered the mouths of some of the communi- 
cants with joy, while only with great reluctance it al- 



118 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

lowed itself to be received by others. This vision 
was the means of the conversion of Widikend^ and 
the submission of his subjects to the faith ; for, hav- 
ing sought instruction from the Christians, he un- 
derstood that our Lord meant to show him, not only 
the truth of the Keal Presence, but that He comes 
into our hearts with willingness or unwillingness, 
as we are well or ill prepared for receiving Him. 
(Timal. Arende I., 1 Collat.) 

Something similar is related in the life of the 
venerable Margaret Mary Alacoque. One day she 
saw our Lord in the host as the priest was giving 
Communion, and she noticed that when the priest 
came to some of the communicants, our Lord 
stretched out His arms, and seemed eager to unite 
Himself to them, while there were others toward 
whom He showed the greatest repugnance, and only 
suffered Himself to be dragged into their mouths 
by certain cords and bands with which He was 
bound. He explained to her afterwards, that the 
souls which He entered willingly were those who 
were careful to please Him, and those to whom He 
showed so much aversion were tepid Christians, 
who received Him into hearts full of hateful faults 
and imperfections. He told her, moreover, that He 
entered into such hearts merely on account of His 
promises, and the law which He had laid upon 
Himself in the institution of the Blessed Sacrament, 
and that this was the meaning of the bands and 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 119 

cords whicli she had seen. ^^ How^ then/' you ask^ 
'^am I to ]3repare for Holy Communion?'' The 
Church sufficiently indicates the dispositions for 
Holy Communion in the following words : ^^Domine^ 
non sum digniiSj ut intres sub tectum meum, sed tan- 
tiim die verhOj ef sanahitur anima mea, Lord^ I 
am not worthy that Thou shouldst enter my roof, but 
only say the word and my soul shall be healed/' 
These words w^ere spoken by the Centurion, who 
came to our Saviour asking Him to heal his ser- 
vant. Our Lord at once offered to go with him to 
his house to perform the cure^ but the good Centu- 
rion rei)lied : ^^Lord, I am not worthy that Thou 
shouldst enter my roof, but only say the word and 
my servant shall be healed." This answer pleased 
our Lord so much that He not only instantly healed 
the servant, but greatly commended the Centuri- 
on's faith. These words express a great esteem for 
Jesus Christ, a great sense of unworthiness on the 
part of the supplicant, and a great confidence that 
he would obtain what he asked. 

These are precisely the dispositions which the 
Church requires for the reception of Holy Commu- 
nion. Hence she repeats the words of the Centu- 
rion in a loud voice, each time she distributes the 
Bread of Life, in order to remind the communicants 
of the duty of approaching the sacred banquet wuth 
a deep sense of their own utter nothingness, and 
^vith a great desire of being united to their Divine 



120 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

Saviour. To excite these affections when about to 
communicatej you have but to ask yourself the fol- 
lowing questions : Who is it that is coming ? To 
whom does He come^ and why is He coming? Who 
is coming in this Holy Sacrament ? It is my Crea- 
tor, Who has given me everything I possess, in 
Whom I live, and move, and am. It is God all 
Powerful ! all Wise ! all Holy ! all Beautiful ! Je- 
sus Christ is coming, the Eternal Son of the Father, 
Who, moved by love unspeakable, came down from 
heaven into the pure womb of the Virgin, was born 
into this world, and lived as man among sinners. 
The Good Shepherd is coming to seek His lost 
sheep ; My Eedeemer is coming, who died on the 
cross for sinners. To whom is He coming? To a 
miserable sinner who has not fulfilled the end of 
his creation ; to a steward, who has wasted his mas- 
ter's goods ; to a servant who has disobeyed his 
lord ; to a subject who has rebelled against his 
prince ; to a redeemed captive who has been un- 
thankful to his deliverer ; to a soldier who has de- 
serted his commander ; to a prodigal child who has 
turned his back upon his father ; to a spouse who 
has been unfaithful to her bridegroom. Oh ! what 
a mingling of sentiments^ exalting and depressing, 
must arise in the heart when about to approach 
Holy Communion ! How great the distance be- 
tween Him Who is received and the sinner who 
receives ! Who can think of this and not feel him- 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 121 

self completely unworthy of such a grace ! Euse- 
bius relates of St. Jerome, that when the Holy 
Viaticum was brought to him, at the hour of his 
deaths he exclaimed : ^^ Lord, why dost Thou lower 
Thyself so much as to come to a publican and a 
sinner, not only to eat with him, but even to be 
eaten by him V And then, casting himself upon 
the earth, he received his Saviour with many tears. 
If a saint who had spent a long life in penitential 
works for the love of Christ, felt so penetrated with 
a sense of his un worthiness before God, how much 
more should we humble ourselves when we draw 
nigh to Him ! Should we not, with a true sorrow 
for our past unfaithfulness, accuse ourselves before 
Him, and resolve, by the help of His grace, to 
amend all that is displeasing in His sight ? The 
Publican, of whom we read in the Gospel, stood far 
back in the temple, and smote his breast, saying : 
^^ Lord, be merciful to me a sinner V And should 
not we, when going to the altar, hesitate and smite 
our breasts, saying, in the depths of our hearts : 
'•' I am not worthy ! I am not worthy !" 

But now the soul, having perceived the depth of 
her own unworthiness, must once more lift up her 
eyes to heaven and ask: '^Why does this Holy 
God come to visit a sinner like me?'' And here 
she finds immensity of goodness which fills her 
again with courage and joy. Why does He come ? 
Surely not for Himself, for He has no need of us. 
11 



122 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

We cannot make Him richer or happier ; we can- 
not give Him anything that He has not first given 
us. He sees in us nothing of our own but misery 
and sin. He is perfectly happy. The AngeLs serve 
Him day and night. There is not one of them that 
would not willingly be annihilated if He were to 
will it. What, then^ is it that induces Him to 
come to us ? It is love^, pure undeserved love. He 
comes to apply to our souls the fruits of His Ee- 
demption which He accomplished on Calvary ; for, 
in this Sacrament He becomes, to each one of us, a 
Saviour in a special sense. He comes to accomplish 
the work for Avhich He created us, to prepare us for 
the place in Heaven which He has destined for us. 
It is He that works in this Sacrament, not we. He 
created us ; He redeemed us ; now He comes to pour 
out upon us all the riches of His love ; He comes to 
give us light to know, and strength to do His will ; 
He comes to repair what is decayed, and to restore 
what is wasted ; to forgive rebellion and unthank- 
fulness ; in a word, to receive us as children ; to 
clothe us with the first robe ; to put a ring on our 
hands, and shoes on our feet ; to eat and make 
merry with us. What, then, should be our senti- 
ments, when we approach our Lord in this mystery, 
but those of the returning prodigal : ^^ I will arise 
and will go to my Father?" And when, at this 
wonderful banquet, our good Father, Jesus Christ, 
falls upon our necks and gives us tlie kiss of peace ; 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 123 

when He feeds us, not with the fatted calf, but with 
His own most precious Flesh, what has the soul to 
do but yield to His loving embrace, and to say, 
with humble gratitude: ^' Lord, I am not wor- 
thy ! I am not worthy to be called Thy son !'' Our 
mistake is this — we think we have much to do, and 
we have but little to do. I have already said that 
habitual fidelity, even in the smallest matters, is a 
condition for our receiving special graces in this 
Sacrament ; but, at the moment of Communion, 
what is chiefly necessary, is a great confidence arising 
from a deep conviction of our own nothingness, and 
from a sense of God's exceedingly great goodness. 
He comes to us with His hands full of graces ; we 
should meet Him with an affectionate desire to be 
united to Him, and a hunger and thirst for His jus- 
tice. But, perhaps, you will say : '^ I see the truth 
of what you have said ; I am sure that a great de- 
sire to receive Jesus Christ is the best disposition 
for approaching Him, but this is precisely my diffi- 
culty. I have not this desire ; I am cold and dry ; 
my heart is dull and sluggish, I go to Commu- 
nion, not, indeed, without the wish to please our 
Lord, but with little fervor or affection for Him. 
Our Lord Himself has given the reply to this diffi- 
culty. He said one day to St. Matilda : ^' When 
thou art about to receive My Body and Blood, de- 
sire, for the greater glory of My name, to have all 
the ardor of love which the most fervent heart ever 



124 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

had for Me, and then thou mayst receive me with 
confidence, for I will attribute to thee, as if thou 
really hadst it, all that fervor that thou desirest to 
have/' What can be more consoling than this? 
You have no devotion, but you can wish to have it. 
You do not feel all the respect and confidence you 
would like to feel, but your wish to have more sup- 
plies what is wanting ; you have no humility, but 
you can humble yourself for your j)ride ; you have 
no love, but you can offer your desire to love. From 
the poor, small presents are accepted. Offer what 
you have, and if you have nothing, then do what 
the saints recommend — say, ^^Lord, if a great king 
were to lodge with a poor man, he would not expect 
the poor man to make a suitable preparation, but 
would send his own servants to make ready for 
him ; do Thou so^ Lord, now that Thou art com- 
ing to dwell in my poor heart !" This alone will 
be an excellent dis]30sition for receiving, and one 
very pleasing to Jesus Christ. 

One day^ St. Gertrude went to receive Holy Com- 
munion without being sufficiently prepared. Be- 
ing greatly afflicted at this, she begged the Blessed 
Virgin Mary, and all the Saints, to offer up to God, 
in her behalf, all their merits, that they might, in 
some way, supply her own deficiency, whereupon 
our Saviour appeared to her and said : ^^ Now, be- 
fore the whole heavenly court, thou appearest 
adorned for Communion as thou wouldst wish to 
be.'' 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 125 

Complyj then, Christian, with that which Je- 
sus Christ requires of you. Communicate, but com- 
municate as He desires that you should. Do not be 
content with keeping yourself free from mortal sin ; 
make war against venial sin also, at least those 
which are fully deliberate ; for though venial sihs 
do not extinguish love, they greatly weaken its 
force and fervor. Strive also to wean your heart 
from creatures ; endeavor to mortify your attach- 
ment to honors, riches and pleasures ; spare no 
trouble for the sake of the kingdom of heaven ; 
practise little but frequent acts of self-denial ; keep 
yourself always in the fear of God, and strive 
to adorn your soul with the virtues which Jesus 
Christ especially loves — humility, meekness, pa- 
tience, prayer, charity, faith, peace and recollection. 
On the eve of your Communion, renew your good 
resolutions ; spend some little time in prayer ; go 
to rest with the thought, ^^ to-morrow I shall re- 
ceive my Saviour ;'' and if you awake in the night, 
think of the great action you are about to perform. 
In the morning make again acts of love, humility, 
contrition and confidence, and then go forward to the 
altar with a sincere desire to love and honor Jesus 
Christ more and more. Do what you can, and 
however imperfect that may be, it will be accepta- 
ble to Jesus Christ, provided He sees in you a true 
desire to do more. By such Communions you will 
gain the precious graces which are imparted by this 
11* 



126 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

Holy Sacrament, for they will not be merely Com- 
munionSj but real unions of Jesus Christ with your 
soul. I will conclude this chapter with the follow- 
ing story : Father Hunolt, of the Society of Jesus, 
relates that two students were once discoursing to- 
getiier about the hour of their death. They agreed 
that, if God would allow it, he who should die first, 
should appear to the other, to tell him how he fared 
in the other world. Shortly afterwards, one of 
them died, and appeared soon after his death, to 
his fellow-student, all shining with heavenly bright- 
ness and glory, and in answer to his inquiries, told 
him that, by the mercy of God he was saved, and 
was in possession of the bliss of heaven. The other 
congratulated him on his felicity, and asked him 
how he merited such unspeakable glory and bliss : 
^^ Chiefly,'' said the happy soul, '' by the care with 
which I endeavored to receive Holy Communion 
with a pure heart." At these words the spirit 
disappeared, leaving in his surviving friend feelings 
of great consolation, and an ardent zeal to imitate 
his devotion. '^ You have heard these things; 
blessed shall you be if you do them.'' (John 
13,17.) 



OUR GREATESr TREASURE. 12T 



CHAPTEE VII. 

ON THANKSGIVING AFTER COMMUNION. 

IF a good preparation before Communion is so 
important, a good thanksgiving after Commu- 
nion is even of greater importance. St. John 
Chrysostom says, that when a person has eaten 
some delicious food at a banquet^ he is careful not 
to take anything bitter in his mouth immediately 
after, lest he should lose the sweet flavor of those 
delicate viands. In like manner, when we have re- 
ceived the precious Body of Jesus Christ, we should 
take care not to lose its heavenly flavor by turning 
too soon to the cares and business of the world. 

St. Francis de Sales expresses the same idea, 
'' When the merchants of India,'' he says, ^^ have 
brought home their precious porcelain, they are 
very careful in conveying it to their store-houses 
lest they should stumble and break their costly 
wares. In like manner should the Christian, when 
he carries the priceless treasure of our Lord's Body, 
walk with great care and circumspection, in order 
not to lose the costly gift committed to his keeping. 
The meaning of both saints is, that after Commu- 
nion we should spend some time in devout recollec- 



128 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

tion and prayer. This is the general practice of good 
Catholics. And^ indeed, reason itself tells us that 
a good thanksgiving after Communion is even of 
more importance than a good preparation before it. 
If we are required to pause and consider what we 
are about to do when we approach our Lord, what 
should be our devotion when He is actually in our 
hearts? When the Blessed Virgin Mary visited 
St. Elizabeth, the aged saint was astonished at the 
condescension of the glorious Mother of God, and 
said : '' Whence is this to me, that the Mother of 
my God should come to me ?" Now, in Holy Com- 
munion, it is the Lord Himself that comes to us ; 
the Eternal ^^ Wisdom which proceeded from the 
mouth of the Most High;" the ^^ Lord and Prince 
of the House of Israel, Who appeared to Moses in 
the burning bush ;'' the ^^ King of nations ;'' ^^ Em- 
manuel,'' '' our King and Law-giver.'' To re- 
main indifferent^ after having received the Blessed 
Eucharist, is to evince either a total want of faith 
or a levity and stupidity unworthy of a reasonable 
being. What a spectacle for the Angels, to see a 
creature approach that sacred host before which 
they bow in lowliest adoration, and when he has 
had the unutterable happiness of receiving his Re- 
deemer, leave the church with as much unconcern 
as if he had but partaken of ordinary bread ! If, 
indeed, this should be done by one who has had no 
opportunity for receiving instruction on this subject, 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 129 

no doubt the Angels will have compassion on his 
ignorance ; but^ should a well-instructed Catholic 
be guilty of such ungrateful behavior towards Je- 
sus Christ after Communion, I think that nothing 
but the mercy of our Lord would prevent them from 
avenging the impiety. 

St. Alphonsus relates that a priest^ seeing a man 
leave the church immediately after Communion, 
sent the servers of Mass^ with lighted candles, to 
accompany him home. ^^What is the matter?'' 
asked the man ; ^^0/' said the boys, ^^we are come 
to accompany our Lord, Who is still present in your 
heart. ' ' If every one who follows the example of this 
indevout communicant received the same reproof, 
the scandal of going directly from the altar to the 
world would soon cease. Although the greatness 
of our Lord is a suflScient reason why we should not 
leave Him alone in our hearts after Communion, it 
is not the argument which He Himself employs. 
There is in this Sacrament nothing that breathes 
of majesty. Our Lord is silent^ whether we leave 
the church immediately or kneel and reverently 
converse with Him. The stones do not cry out 
against our ingratitude, if, after eating the Bread 
of Angels, we do not give thanks to God. eTesus 
Christ might send twelve legions of angels to stand 
around us after we have left His Table, to remind 
us that He is present in our hearts ; but He does 
not do this. Now it is from this very fact of not 



130 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

surrounding Himself with anything calculated ta 
inspire fear, that we ought to draw the most power- 
ful incentive to gratitude. This Sacrament is a 
Sacrament of love. In it God is pleased to treat 
with His creatures in all familiarity. Jesus Christ, 
having accomplished the work of our Redemption, 
draws nigh to converse with us, as He did to the 
two disciples on their way to Emmaus. He wishes 
to speak with us as one friend speaks to another. 
0, then, what an affront it is, to leave Him the 
moment that He comes to us ! Scarcely to say one 
word to Him ! Would you not consider it great 
unkindness, if a loving friend had travelled far to 
see you, and when he has but a little time to stay, 
to leave him as soon as he had entered your house, 
and go to attend to your business or to seek your 
pleasure ? Would you not rather give him the best 
welcome you could, and prepare the best room in 
your house^ and adorn it with your richest furni- 
ture ; would you not sacrifice something of your 
time to keep him company, and exchange some 
tokens of love before you allowed him to depart? 
Now, should you not do as much for Jesus Christ, 
Who has come so far to visit you. Who has suffered 
so many sorrows for your sake. Who is thinking 
of you always, and has given you so many tokens 
of His love ? It is by this argument that Jesus 
Christ Himself prefers to incite us to make a due 
thanksgiving after Communion, and it is one which 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 131 

must have irresistible height with every faithful 
heart. I feel that this point needs no further 
proof — I will therefore pass on to consider the man- 
ner in which we ought to make our thanksgiving. 
What has been said in regard to preparation is, of 
course, equally true here, viz. : that each one is 
free to use such prayers as he shall find most suited 
to his devotion. My object is only to show in what 
a good thanksgiving essentially consists. 

Now, it consists first, in completing the. union 
with our Lord, which He has come to effect, by a 
sincere oblation of ourselves to Him. The moment 
of Communion is different from any other moment 
of our lives. Then we can truly exclaim, my God 
and my All ! When we communicate God Himself 
is present in our little hearts, as our Friend and 
Bridegroom. Nothing can be more intimate than 
the union that then takes place between the Creator 
and His creatures. It is more like the Incarnation 
of the Eternal Son of God in the womb of the 
Blessed Virgin Mary than anything else. To her 
it was said, ^^The Holy Ghost shall come upon 
thee, and the power of the Most High shall over- 
shadow thee. And therefore also, the Holy One 
which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son 
of God.'' And the same Son of God, the Holy 
One, that was born of the spotless Virgin, comes 
into our hearts in the Sacred Host. Think of all 
that is most beautiful and most precious ia the 



132 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

world, of all the riches of the whole universe, of 
all the glory of heaven, and you have, as yet, but 
a faint idea of the wealth of a soul that has received 
Holy Communion ; such a soul possesses not only 
earth and heaven, but the Lord and Maker of heaven 
and earth. It is a mystery which almost baffles 
thought. Certainly God can never cease to be what 
He is ; He can never cease to be awful in His Great- 
ness, and Infinite in His Wisdom ; our Kuler, our 
King, and our Judge ; but in this Sacrament, as if 
He had nothing to think of but the soul which He 
comes to visit, He lavishes upon her all the riches of 
His bounty, and reveals Himself to her in no other 
but the most amiable and most humble manner. 
Perhaps it is for this reason that He has been 
pleased so often to manifest Himself as an Infant in 
the Sacred Host, in order to show us how small He 
has become for love of us, and to take away from 
us all fear. Of old it was said, llagnus Dominus et 
Icmdabilis nimis. ''^ Great is the Lord and exceed- 
ingly to be praised ;'' but now we may rather say : 
Parvus Dominus et amabilis nimis, '^ Small is the 
Lord and exceedingly to be loved.'' Accordingly 
we find from the expressions of the saints, that the 
thought which possessed their souls after Commu- 
nion, was admiration at the unutterable love of 
God. St. Mary Magdalene of Pazzi once asked a 
pious person after Communion what she was think- 
ing of; ^^ of love" was her reply. ^^ Yes/' rejoined 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 133 

the Saint/' when we think of the immense love of 
Jesus Christ for us^ we cannot think of anything 
else/' It is related of Artaxerxes, King of Persia^ 
that when he saw Themistocles^ his dearest friend, 
he exclaimed, in a transport of joy: '^I have 
Themistocles, Themistocles I have!" With how 
much greater joy should not the soul exclaim after 
Communion : ^' I have my Jesus, my Jesus I have ! 
I have found Him Whom my soul loves ! I will 
keep Him, and not leave Him V It is not^ how- 
ever, enough to wonder at our Saviour's love. 
Love must be mutual to produce union ; and we 
must return Him love for love. Now is the time to 
repay Him for the trials and tears, the shame and 
sorrow, the contradiction and reproach which He 
underwent for the ransom of our souls. They were 
already His by the title of creation, and now they 
belong to Him by the title of Eedemption. We 
must make to Him a childlike, generous, sincere, 
and complete oblation. '^ But what/' you say, 
'^ have I to oifer ? I am poor and indigent, I stand 
in need of everything, wdiat can I give to the Lord, 
Who made heaven and earth?" I will tell you. 
Imitate Aeschines, a disciple of Socrates, of whom 
Seneca relates that not being able, on account of 
his poverty, to make such rich presents to his mas- 
ter as his fellow disciples did, he went out and said 
to him : '^ Master, my extreme poverty leaves me 
nothing to give you as a token of my gratitude, I 
12 



134 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

offer you, then, myself, to be yours forever/' 
'^ Truly,'' said Socrates, '^you have given me more 
than all the rest." Act thus with Jesus Christ. 
You have no treasure to offer Him ; you have no 
station to renounce for Him ; you have no occasion 
to die for Him ; you cannot do for Him v/hat He has 
done for you, but you can give Him that which He 
values more than anything else — your heart. 

There is nothing that gives so much pleasure to 
Jesus Christ as a heart truly resolved to serve Him. 
Give Him, then, this pleasure ; offer yourself to 
Him, to be disposed of as He pleases ; to receive at 
His Hand bitter and sweet indifferently ; to serve 
Him with all the fervor that you can ; to avoid sin 
and to lead a Christian life. Do this, and then 
your Communion will be really a Communion, that 
is to say, a union with God. 

To receive the Body of Christ is common to the 
good and the bad, but it is the good alone who are 
truly united to Him. Are you, perhaps, afraid to 
make such promises? ^^It is easy," I hear you 
say^ '^to make an offering of ourselves to Jesus 
Christ, but it is not so easy to carry it into effect." 
Oh, Christian soul, thou dost not yet understand 
the generosity of love ! Did not our Lord ask St. 
James and St. John whether they were ready to 
drink of the chalice that He would drink of, before 
He actually gave them the grace of Martyrdom? 
Did He not make us promise to renounce the devil 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 135 

and his works, and his pomps, and to live in obedi- 
ence to the Christian law before He adopted us as 
His children in Baptism ? We must first promise 
much, and then God will help us to do much. He 
comes into our hearts^ not only to claim them as 
His own, but to give us grace whereby we may 
truly make them His. After we have made an 
oblation of ourselves to Him^. then we must imme- 
diately proceed to beg of Him the grace to fulfil 
that which we have promised — and this is the sec- 
ond part of a good thanksgiving. 

There is no doubt that petitioning our Lord for 
special graces should be our principal occupation 
after Communion. '^ The time after Communion," 
says St. Theresa, '^ is the best time for negotiating 
with Jesus Christ, for then He is in the soul, seated, 
as it were, on a throne of grace, and saying, as He 
said to the blind man : '^ What wilt thou that I 
should do to thee?" And another great servant of 
God says that, in the beginning of his conversion, 
he was accustomed to employ the time after Com- 
munion, chiefly in making devout aspirations^ but 
that afterwards he devoted almost the w^hole time 
to petition, which he found more profitable to his 
soul. When a prince goes to visit, for a short time, 
his subjects in a distant province, his whole time is 
taken up in hearing their complaints, in redressing 
their grievances, in consoling them in their mise- 
ries, and in relieving their wants. So, Jesus Christ, 



136 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

our Heavenly King, comes in this Sacrament on a 
short visit^ to inquire into our wants and to relieve 
them. I say to inquire into our wants, not as if 
He needed to be informed of them, but because, as 
St. Alphonsus says, He wishes that we should lay 
them before Him. When the storm was raging on 
the sea of Tiberias, our Lord continued to sleep in 
the ship, although He knew well the danger of His 
disciples. Why did He do this ? It was because 
He wished that they should awake Him and implore 
His aid. Lay, then, before Him all your troubles, 
your weaknesses, your fears and your desires. Are 
you in temporal difficulties ? Hear what He has 
said : *^ What man is there among you of whom, if 
his son ask bread, will he reach him a stone? or if 
he ask a fish will he reach him a serpent ? If you, 
then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to 
your children, how much more will your Father 
Who is in heaven, give good things to them that 
ask Him ?" (St. Matt. vii. 9, 10, 11.) Do you wish 
to subdue your passions and disorderly affections ? 
Hear what He has said : '^ As the division of waters, 
so the heart of the king is in My hands." (Prov. 
xxi. 1.) If the hearts of kings are like wax in His 
hands, is He not able to change your heart also ? 
Is He not able to convert you as He converted the 
prophet David, St. Mary Magdalene, St. Paul, St. 
Margaret of Cortona, and a host of others ? Ask 
Him, then, to destroy in you what is bad, and to 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 137 

make you what you wish to be ; to change your 
wavering purposes into a firui resolution to follow 
His example ; your fear of self-discipline into an 
earnest desire to advance in virtue and holiness. 
Ask Him to change your dissipated heart into a 
recollected one ; your unmortified heart into a mor- 
tified one ; your ambitious heart into an humble 
one ; your faint and timid heart into a brave and 
courageous one ; your irritable and peevish heart 
into a mild and patient one ; your sinful heart into 
a holy one. 

In the life of St. Catharine of Sienna^ we read 
of a wonderful grace that she received from our 
Lord. He took out her heart and gave her His in 
its place. Each one of us has it in his power to 
receive a grace somewhat similar. Let us only ask 
of Jesus Christ, and He will transform us, as it 
were, into Himself. Pray to Him for humility, for 
patience, for meekness, for contempt of the world, 
for a lively faith, a firm hope, ardent charity ; for 
brotherly love, for love of your enemies, for the 
prosperity of the Church, for the conversion of sin- 
ners, heretics and infidels ; for the souls in purga- 
tory : for devotion to His Passion, to the Blessed 
Sacrament, to His Immaculate Mother ; for the 
crowning grace of perseverance, and He will give 
you all, for His Arm is not shortened nor His Love 
diminished. The Sacrament of the Eucharist never 

grows old : it is as efficient now as it was at the 
12*^ 



138 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

time of the Apostles. There is nothing necessary 
to your true sanctity that your Lord is unwilling to 
impart to you. If you are diligent in asking graces 
of Him after Communion ; if you persevere in ask- 
ing, with a real desire to obtain, you will infallibly 
become a saint, yea, a great saint. 

There is another exercise of devotion which should 
form part of your thanksgiving after Communion. 
I mean Praise. It is good sometimes to rejoice ; it 
enlarges the heart and gives it courage. '^ Eejoice 
in the Lord always,'' says St. Paul, '^ and again I 
say — Rejoice !" The life of men would be much 
happier than it is were they, with a lively faith, 
often to receive Holy Communion. How sorrowful 
soever you may be when about to receive, afterward 
you will not be without consolation. When our 
Divine Saviour entered the temple, the little chil- 
dren cried out : ^' Hosanna to the Son of David !'' 
and shall not you sing a song of praise when He 
comes into the temple of your heart? 0, how 
much should you rejoice ! How great a thing it is 
to be a Christian ! '' Where is the nation that has 
its gods so nigh, as our God is with us? What 
king or emperor is so honored as the faithful Cath- 
olic ? What Angel of heaven so favored as the 
good communicant? ''Do you not know,'' says 
St. Paul, " that you are temples of God?" '' Yes, 
indeed, each good Catholic is a true Christopher, 
that is to say, a carrier of Christ ! After Commu- 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 139 

nion^ he carries in his heart Jesus Christy the In- 
carnate Son of God. 

^' All things are yours/' says St. Paul ; '^ all 
are yours and you are Christ's.'' ^'' Exult ye who 
live in Sion !" Why should you take life so hard, 
and complain of your crosses and trials, and be so 
impatient in every difficulty ? Why should you 
envy the rich of this world, the great and the hon- 
ored ? Why should you vex yourself at injuries 
and groan in adversity ? Why should you faint at 
the thought of self-denial and conflict ? Are you 
not a Catholic ? Have you not the sweet services of 
the Church to soothe you and her Sacraments to 
nourish you ; her benedictions to strengthen you, 
and her absolution to cleanse you? Have you not 
Mary for your Mother, and the Angels and saints 
for your Patrons and Protectors ; and, above all, in 
the Blessed Sacrament, Jesus for your Father? 
Oh ! my soul, rejoice and sing a song unto the 
Lord. Alleluia ! Praise the Lord, ye servants of 
God ; praise ye the name of the Lord from hence- 
forth, now and forever. From the rising of the 
sun unto the going down of the same, the name of 
the Lord is worthy of praise. Who is as the Lord 
our God, Who dwelleth on high and looketh down 
on the low things in heaven and on earth ! Eais- 
ing up the needy from the earth, and lifting up the 
poor out of the dunghill, that He may place them 
with princes, with the princes of His people. Alle- 



140 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

luia ! Bless the Lord, my soul, and let all that is 
within me bless His holy name ! Bless the Lord, 
my soul, and never forget all He has done for 
thee ; Who forgiveth all thy iniquities ; Who heal- 
eth all thy diseases ; Who redeemeth thy life from 
destruction ; Who crowneth thee with mercy and 
compassion ; Who satisfieth all thy desires with 
good things. He hath not dealt with thee accord- 
ing to thy sins, nor rewarded thee according to thy 
iniquities : for, according to the height of heaven 
above the earth. He has strengthened His mercy 
towards them that fear Him ; and as far as the 
West is from the East, so far hath He removed our 
iniquities from us. As a father hath compassion on 
his children, so hath the Lord compassion on them 
that fear Him. Bless the Lord, all ye Angels ; you 
that are mighty in strength and execute His word, 
hearkening to the voice of His orders. my soul, 
bless thou the Lord ! My soul doth 'magnify the 
Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Sa- 
viour. For He that is mighty hath done great things 
to me : and Holy is His name. And His mercy 
is from generation to generation to them that fear 
Him. He hath shown might in His Arm ; He hath 
scattered the proud in the conceit of their hearts ; 
He hath put down the migbty from their seat, and 
hath exalted the humble ; He hath filled the hun- 
gry with good things, and the rich He hath sent 
away empty ; He hath received Israel His servant, 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 141 

being mindful of His mercy. As He spoke to our 
fathers, to Abraham and his seed forever. 

Having spoken of the necessity of making a 
thanksgiving after Communion, and shown the 
manner in which it may profitably be made, I must 
say a few words about the length of time which you 
should devote to it. Above all I must remark that 
I have no intention of putting your conscience un- 
der any law ; in this point you are altogether free 
to consult the duties of your state of life, or even 
your inclinations. I know that the saints desired 
to spend their life-time in thanksgiving after Com- 
munion, and felt a kind of reluctance to attend to 
temporal aflFairs after having received the Body 
and Blood of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist. 
Hence in the Imitation of Christ, the blessed Thomas 
aKempis complains of the necessity of eating, 
drinking, sleeping and attending to temporal af- 
fairs, because they interrupted his converse with 
the Lord and Master of his heart. But at the same 
time, I know that the saints never allowed their 
prayers to interfere with the faithful performance of 
the duties of their state of life. It is very import- 
ant to know that true devotion does not consist in 
sacrificing work to prayer ; but in making prayer 
a preparation for work, and work a continuation of 
prayer. Hence, then, your thanksgiving should 
not be longer than the duties of your state of life 
will permit. Father Avila used to spend two hours 



142 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

in thanksgiving after Mass, even when he was very 
"busy. St. Alphonsus advises every one to devote at 
least half an hour to it, if it is at all possible. Bnt 
whatever time you fix upon, do not imagine that 
your thanksgiving is at an end when you leave the 
church. The best thanksgiving is to cease from 
sin and to remain united with God ; your half 
hour's prayer is only to help you to do this. You 
cannot remain always in the church, but you can 
go to your business with a recollected mind. You 
cannot always keep your prayer-book and beads in 
your hands, but you can make ejaculatory prayer to 
God, at every time and in every place. 

It is said of St. Aloysius of Gonzaga, that he used 
to receive Communion once a week, and that he was 
accustomed to spend three days in preparation be- 
fore it, and three days in thanksgiving after it. 
How did he manage to do this ? Was he all the 
time prostrated before the Altar, or reading a 
spiritual book? Not at all, he went wherever obe- 
dience called him, quietly performing his duties and 
keeping his heart lifted up to God. He offered up 
all liis actions to Jesus Christ by way of thanks- 
giving ; and he made now and then some short acts 
of faith, hope and charity ; some acts of self- 
oblation, or admiration, or supplication. By this 
means, the angelic youth was enabled to walk con- 
tinually with God ; one Communion was the prepa- 
ration for another, thus he constantly advanced in 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 143 

purity of heart and in love for Jesus Christ. Now^ 
every one who has but little time at his disposal can 
make sucli a thanksgiving as this ; if not with all 
the perfection of St. Aloysius, at least w^ith great 
fruit and consolation to his soul. Every one can 
offer to Jesus Christ the crosses he may meet with 
during the day, and bear them patiently for the 
sake of Him whom he wishes to thank. He can 
crush the movements of impatience, the thought of 
vanity, the immodest glance, the word of bitterness, 
the laugh of folly, the look of pride. He can, for 
the love of the good Jesus, be just and true, pure 
and obedient, pious and humble. This is the way 
to honor and please Jesus Christ. He did not insti- 
tute this adorable Sacrament to give us a little ex- 
citement of devotion, but to make us holy, ^^ I 
have chosen you,'' said our Lord, ^^ that you should 
bring forth fruits, and that your fruit should re- 
main.'' ^^In this is My Father glorified that you 
bring forth very much fruit." Make then. Chris- 
tian soul, a good use of the precious moments after 
Communion. You will never fully understand how 
precious they are. Nothing will cause you more 
confusion after death than the little account you 
have made of the Blessed Sacrament. It is related 
in the Book of Esther, that one night when the 
King Assuerus could not sleep, he ordered the 
chronicles of his reign to be read to him. When 
the reader came to the place where it was related 



144 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

that Mordachai, the Jew, had once crushed a wicked 
plot against the King's life, Assuerus asked '^ what 
reward had Mordachai received for his fidelity/' 
^^ None at all/' they answered him. Whereupon, in 
all haste, the King ordered the long delayed ac- 
knowledgment to be made to his deliverer ; that 
Mordachai should be carried in procession through 
the streets clothed in royal apparel and crowned 
with the King's crown, and seated upon the King's 
horse, and that it should be proclaimed before all : 
^^ This is the honor he is worthy of, whom the King 
hath a mind to honor." 

To you, also, my dear reader, there will come a 
sleepless nighty when mortal sickness shall tell you 
that death is near, and then you will look back upon 
your life, and see many benefits for which you have 
made no acknowledgment. When you think of 
your Communions you will say, what acknowledg- 
ment have I made to my Deliverer Who has so often 
saved my life ? When the two disciples at Emmaus 
understood that it was Jesus Who had been with 
them by the way, they remembered how their hearts 
had burned as He conversed with them ; so, at the 
hour of death, you will see how precious were the 
graces you received, when Jesus, in the Holy Sacra- 
ment, came into your heart. Your Communions 
will then seem to have been the greatest blessings 
of your life. The world will have disappeared, 
friends will have deserted you, all your past life will 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 145 

seem to have been a dream ; but the moments when 
you received your Saviour will appear to you in their 
true bearing in eternity. What regret will you 
not then feel for your unfaithfulness ! How earn- 
estly will you desire to live your life over again to 
repair your indevout thanksgivings ! A holy nun^ 
who had suffered very much in this life^ appeared 
after her death to one of her sisters in religion. 
She told her that she would willingly return to the 
world and undergo once more all the pains she had 
suffered here on earth, provided she could say but 
one Hail llary, because by that one prayer, her 
glory and joy would be increased by one degree for 
all eternity. (P. Michael a St. Catherine. Lib. 
III. Tract. 16.) If the blessed in heaven are willing 
to do so much for one Hail Mary what would they 
not do for one Communion ? And yet they cannot 
have it. It is the privilege of mortals alone to feed 
on the Flesh of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist. 
I repeat, then, make great account of your Commu- 
nions. Do now what you will wish to have done at 
the hour of death. Make the most of every mo- 
ment of your thanksgiving. Pay to Jesus Christ 
all the honor that you possibly can. You cannot 
do as Assuerus did. Jesus Christ is great, and you 
are poor and miserable ; you cannot give Him royal 
honor — you can but give Him the tribute of an 
humble loving heart. But this He is pleased to 
accept. Offer it to Him, then, in all sincerity. 
13 



146 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

Converse with Him reverently and familiarly whilst 
you have Him in your heart ; try to obtain some 
grace from Him which may remain after He has 
ceased to be sacramentally present with you^ and 
which may enable you to make your next Commu- 
nion better. Thus you will live always united with 
Jesus Christy and by your example and conversa- 
tion you will edify your neighbor. 

St. Veronica Juliana liad^ even at the age of three 
years, a great devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, 
and it is related of her that, not being permitted to 
receive Communion, she used to come very close to 
her mother after she had communicated and cling 
to her dress. One day her mother noticed the child 
and asked her why she thus hung around her, and 
she replied: '^ Mother, you taste of Jesus and you 
smell of Jesus V If you, too, my reader, are care- 
ful to make a good thanksgiving you will carry 
with you a sweet odor of sanctity, and angels and 
good Christians will love to keep you company. 
You will advance in virtue and happiness here, and 
what is more, hereafter. When the tepid and indif- 
ferent will be lamenting in a bitter Purgatory their 
negligent thanksgivings, or will be cursing them in 
Hell as the first steps to mortal sin, you will be 
blessing the retired and mortified life which left 
you time to love and honor your Saviour. Nay, 
even this is not all, for your most bountiful Saviour 
will reward the little honor you have paid Him by a 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 147 

great and royal recompense. He will do far more 
for you than Assuerus did for Mordechai. He will 
cause you to be honored by all the angels and saints 
in heaven ; clothe you in royal attire and ^^ confess 
your name before His Father/' as He promised 
when He said: ^'Whosoever shall glorify Me him 
will I glorify !'' (I. Kings ii., 30.) 



CHAPTEE VIII. 

ON THE EFFECTS OF nOLY COMMUNION. 

I AM sure, dear reader, that if you would once 
begin the practice of frequent Communion, in 
order to please our Lord, you would continue it in 
order to please yourself. I will now proceed to 
make good this assertion by showing the great and 
admirable effects which this Bread of the Strong 
produces in the soul. First, it confers an increase 
of sanctifying grace. The life of the soul consists 
in its being in a state of acceptance or friendship 
with God, and that which renders it acceptable to 
God is sanctifying grace. This grace, which was 



148 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

merited for us by our Lord Jesus Christ, is infused 
into the soul by the Holy Ghost through the Sac- 
raments ; but each Sacrament does not confer it in 
the same manner. Baptism and Penance bestow it 
upon those who are entirely out of the grace of God, 
or in other words, are spiritually dead ; Baptism be- 
ing the means appointed for those who have never 
been in the grace of God, and Penance for those 
who have lost it. These Sacraments are, therefore, 
called Sacraments of the dead, as being instituted 
for the benefit of those who are in mortal sin or 
dead to grace. When these Sacraments are re- 
ceived with the right dispositions, they truly recon- 
cile the sinner with God, so that, from being an 
enemy of God, He becomes His friend, and an object 
of His complacency. But this acceptance, though 
true and real, is not in the highest degree ; it ad- 
mits of an increase, as the Holy Scripture says : 
*^ Let him that is just be justified still ; and let him 
that is holy be sanctified still ;'' and, therefore, God 
appointed the other Sacraments, tlie Sacraments of 
the living, not only to convey special graces peculiar 
to each, but to impart an increase of sanctifying 
grace to those who are already in His favor. A 
rich man, when he has taken possession of a field 
which he wishes to convert into a garden, is not 
content with putting a wall around it, and clearing 
it of the most noxious weeds, and setting it in good 
order, but he continues to cultivate it assiduously ; 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 149 

to fill it with the most beautiful plants, and to em- 
bellish it with new and choice ornaments. Thus 
Almighty God^ in His love and goodness^ has mul- 
tiplied means by which the soul may be enriched 
with the graces and merits of Jesus Christ, and be- 
come more and more agreeable and beautiful in His 
eyes. Now, among all these means, there is none 
greater or more powerful than the Blessed Eucha- 
rist. Each time that we receive our Saviour in Holy 
Communion, we participate anew in all the merits 
of His Redemption, of His poverty. His hidden life^ 
His scourging, and His crowning with thorns. 
The Holy Eucharist, then, differs from the other Sac- 
raments in this, that while the other Sacraments be- 
stow upon us one or another of the fruits of Christ's 
merits, this gives us the grace and merits of our 
Saviour in their source. The soul, therefore, re- 
ceives an immense increase of sanctifying grace at 
each Communion. Dear Christian, let us reflect 
upon this for a moment. It is no slight thing for 
a soul to be beautiful in the sight of God. That 
must needs be something great and precious which 
can render us, sinful creatures as we are, truly 
amiable before God. What must be the value of 
sanctifying grace which can work such a transfor- 
mation ? What is it ? and who can declare its 
price ? St. Thomas tells us, that the lowest degree 
of sanctifying grace is worth more than all the 
riches of the world. Think, then, of all the riches 
13* 



150 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

of this world ! The mines of gold, of precious 
stones^ the forests of costly wood, and all the hid- 
den stores of wealth, for the least of which treasures 
the children of this world are willing to toil, and 
struggle, and sin for a whole life-time. Again, 
consider that the lowest grace which an humble 
Catholic Christian receives at the rails of the sanc- 
tuary at dawn of day, before the great world is 
astir, outweighs all those riches. But why do I 
draw my comparison from the things of this world ? 
St. Theresa, after her death, appeared to one of her 
sisters in religion, and told her that all the saints 
in heaven, without exception, would be willing to 
come back to this world and to remain here till the 
end of time, suffering all the miseries to which our 
mortal state is subject, only to gain one more de- 
gree of sanctifying grace and the eternal glory cor- 
responding to it. Nay, I even assert, that all the 
devils in hell would consider all the torments of 
their darkabode^ endured for millions upon millions 
of ages, largely recompensed by the least degree of 
that grace which they have once rejected. These 
thoughts give us a grand and sublime idea of the 
value of grace ; but there is another consideration 
that ought to raise our estimate of it still higher, 
namely, that God Himself, the Eternal Son of the 
Father, came down upon earth, was made man, 
suffered and died the death of the cross in order to 
purchase it for us. His life is in some way the 
measure of its value. 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 151 

Now^ this sanctifying grace is poured upon us, in 
Holy Communion, in floods ! The King of heaven 
is then present in our souls, scattering profusely His 
"benedictions, and making us taste of the powers of 
the world to come. 0, if any one of us were to 
see his own soul immediately after Communion, how 
amazed and confounded would he not be at the 
sight of it. He would take it for an Angel. 

St. Catherine of Sienna, having been asked by 
her confessor to describe to him the beauty of a soul 
in a state of grace, as it had been revealed to her, 
replied : ^^ The beauty and lustre of such a soul is 
so great, that if you were to behold it you would 
be willing to endure all possible pains and suffer- 
ings for its sake.'' Need we wonder, then, that 
the Angels loved to keep company with those saints 
on earth who, every day, with great devotion, re- 
ceived Holy Communion ; and that even the faces 
of those who have been ardent lovers of the Blessed 
Sacrament have sometimes shone with the glory 
with which they were filled ? Does not Christ say 
of such a soul : ^'How beautiful art thou. My be- 
loved ! how beautiful art thou ?' ' What great value 
should we then not set on this Divine Sacrament? 
At each Communion, we gain more and more upon 
what is bad in our hearts ; we bring God more and 
more into them, and we come nearer to that hea- 
venly state in which they shall be altogether ^^ with- 
out spot or wrinkle,'' holy and without blemish. 



152 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

Should we not^ then, esteem this wonder-working 
Sacrament more than anything else in this world? 
Ought we not continually give thanks to God for 
so great a blessing, and, above all, show our thank- 
fulness by receiving it frequently and devoutly? I 
leave it to you, Christian soul, to answer what I 
have said. I will not dwell longer on this point; 
reflect and act accordingly. I must pass on to ex- 
plain some of the other wonderful eff'ects of this 
precious Sacrament. 

The benefit to be derived from Holy Communion, 
which I will notice in the second place, consists in 
this, that we are thereby preserved from mortal sin. 
In like manner, as the body is continually in dan- 
ger of death by reason of the law of decay which 
works unceasingly within us, so, in like manner, 
the life of the soul is constantly in jeopardy from 
that fearful proneness to sin whicb belongs to our 
fallen nature. Accordingly, as Almighty God, in 
His Wisdom, has ordained natural food as the 
means of repairing the decay of the body and of 
warding oflF death, so has He seen fit to give us a 
spiritual and heavenly food to keep us from falling 
into mortal sin Vv^hich causes the death of the soul. 
This food is the Holy Eucharist, as the Council of 
Trent teaches us, saying that the Sacrament of the 
Eucharist is ''the antidote by which we are freed 
from daily faults and preserved from mortal sins." 
And hence St. Francis de Sales compares Holy Com- 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 153 

munion to the Tree of Life which grew in the midst 
of the garden of Paradise, saying that, ^'as our 
first parents, by eating of that tree, might have 
avoided the death of the body, so we^ by feeding on 
this Sacrament of Life, may avoid tlie death of the 
souL Do you ask how the Blessed Sacrament pre- 
serves us from mortal sin ? I reply : in two ways ; 
by weakening our passions, and by protecting us 
against the assaults of the devil. Every one has 
some besetting sin, some passion which is excited 
in his heart more easily and more frequently than 
any other, and which is the cause of the greater 
part of his faults. In some, it is anger ; in others, 
envy ; in others, pride ; in others, sensuality and 
impurity. Now, however weak one may be, and by 
whatsoever passion he may be agitated, let him fre- 
quently receive the Body of Christ and his soul will 
become tranquil and strong. The saints would ex- 
press this by saying that, as the waters of the Jor- 
dan stood back when the Ark of the Covenant came 
into the river, so our passions and evil inclinations 
are repelled when Jesus Christ enters into our 
hearts in Holy Communion. St. Bernard says: 
^^If w^e do not experience so frequent and violent 
attacks of anger, envy and concupiscence as for- 
merly, let us give thanks to Jesus Christ in the 
Blessed Sacrament, Who has produced these effects 
in us." Accordingly, in the Thanksgiving which 
the Church has provided to be used by the priest 



154 ,THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

after the celebration of Mass, there is a prayer for 
imploring God that, in like manner, as the holy 
martyr St. Lawrence overcame the torments of fire, 
the sonl, which has been fed with this Bread of 
Heaven, may be enabled to extinguish the flames of 
sin. There are thousands of cases w^hich attest the 
efficacy of the Blessed Sacrament in this respect. 

In Ferrara there lived a man who^ in his youth, 
was very much molested with temptations of the 
flesh to which he too often gave consent, and thus 
committed many mortal sins. To free himself from 
this miserable state he determined to marry ; but his 
wife died very soon and he was again in danger. 
He was not disposed to marry again ; but to remain 
a widower was, he thought, to expose himself anew 
to his former temptations. In this emergency he 
consulted a good friend and received the advice to 
go frequently to confession and Holy Communion. 
He followed this advice, and experienced in himself 
such extraordinary effects of the Sacrament that he 
could not help exclaiming: '^0, why did I not 
sooner meet with such a friend ! Most certainly I 
would not have committed so many abominable sins 
of impurity had I more frequently received this 
Sacrament which maJceth virgins.'' (Baldesanus in 
Stim. Virt. I, c. 8.) 

In the life of St. Philip Neri^ we read that one 
day a young man who was leading a very impure 
life, came to the saint to confession. St. Philip, 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 155 

knowing that there was no better remedy against 
concupiscence^ than the most sacred Body of Jesus 
Christ, counselled him to frequent the Sacraments. 
By this means he was, in a short time, entirely 
freed from his vicious habits and became pure like 
an angel. ! how many souls have made the same 
experience ! Ask any Christian who has once lived 
in sin and afterwards truly amended, from what 
moment he began to get the better of his passions, 
and he will answer, from the moment that he began 
to frequent the Sacraments. How should it be 
otherwise ? Jesus calms the wdnds and seas by a 
single word. What storm will be able to resist His 
power ? What gust of passion will not subside 
when, on entering the soul^ He says: '^ Peace be 
with thee; be not afraid; it is //" The danger 
of mortal sin, however, arises not only from the 
strength of our passions^ but also from the violence 
of the temptations with which the devil assails us ; 
and against these, too, the Blqssed Sacrament pro- 
tects us. 

When Eamirus, King of Spain^ had been fighting 
a long time against the Saracens, he retired with 
his soldiers to a mountain to implore the assistance 
of Almighty God. Whilst at prayer, St. James 
the Apostle, appeared to him and commanded him 
to make all his soldiers go to Confession and Com- 
munion the day following, and then to lead them 
out against their enemies. After all had been done 



156 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

that the Saint commanded, they again had an en- 
gagement with the Saracens, and gained a complete 
and brilliant victory. (Chron. Gen. Alphon. Reg.) 
How much more, in our conflict with the devil, shall 
we not be enabled, by means of Holy Communion, 
to put him to flight and cover him with shame and 
confusion ! St. Thomas says : '' Hell was subdued 
by the death of our Saviour, and the Bless'ed Sacra- 
ment of the Altar being a mystical renewal of the 
death of Jesus Christ, the devils no sooner behold 
His Body and Blood in us, than they immediately 
take to flight, giving place to the angels who draw 
nigh and assist us.'' St. John Chrysostom says: 
^'As the angel of destruction passed by all the 
houses of the Israelites without doing them any 
harm, because he found them sprinkled with the 
blood of the lamb, so the devil passes by us when 
he beholds within us the Blood of Jesus Christ, the 
Lamb of God.'' And St. Ambrose says: ''When 
thy adversary shall see thy habitation taken up with 
the brightness of the presence of God in thy soul, 
he departs and flies away, perceiving that no room 
is left for his temptations. ! how often has it 
happened that souls were so dreadfully tormented 
by the evil representations, suggestions and temp- 
tations of the devil, as not to know what to do ! 
But no sooner had they received Holy Communion 
than they became at once quite calm and peaceful !. 
Eead the life of any of the saints, and you will 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 157 

find instances of this ; or ask any devout Catholic, 
and he will tell you that what I have asserted is 
but reality. Nay, the devil himself must confess 
and has often confessed this truth. If he were 
forced to say why it is that he cannot tempt such 
and such a soul oftener and more violently, why it 
is that, to his own shame and confusion, he is forced 
to withdraw so often from a soul which once he held 
in his power, what do you think he would answer ? 
Hear what he once answered. A person whom, by 
a special permission of God, he was allowed to har-- 
rass very much and even drag about on the ground, 
was exorcised by a priest of our Congregation and 
the devil was commanded to say whether or not 
Holy Communion was very useful and j)rofitable to 
the soul. At the first and second interrogatory he 
would not answer, but the third time, being com- 
manded in the name of the blessed Trinity, he 
replied with a howl : '^ Profitable ! Know that if 
this person had not received Holy Communion so 
many times we should have had her completely 
in our power." Behold, then, our great weapon 
against the devil ! ^^ Yes/' says the great St. John 
Chrysostom, '^ after receiving the Body and Blood 
of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist, we become 
as terrible to the devil as a furious lion is to 
man.'' 

When the King of Syria went out to take the 
prophet Eliseus captive the servant of the man of 
14 



158 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

God was very much afraid at seeing the great army 
and the horses and chariots, and he said : '^ Alas 1 
alas ! alas ! my Lord ; what shall we do ?" But the 
prophet said : ^^ Fear not ; for there are more with 
us than with them ;" and then he showed the trem- 
bling servant how the whole mountain was full of 
angels ready to defend them. So, however weak 
w^e may be, and however powerful our enemies^ for- 
tified with the Bread of Heaven, we have no reason 
to fear : we are stronger than hell, for God is with 
us. ' ^^ The Lord ruleth me, I shall want nothing. 
Though I should walk in the midst of the shadow 
of death, I fear no evils, for Thou art with me. 
Thou hast prepared a taUe before me against them 
that afflict me." In concluding this point, let me, 
then, once more address to you, dear Christian, the 
words of exhortation. With what justice does not 
St. Francis de Sales appeal to you, saying: ^^0 
Philothea, what reply shall reprobate Christians be 
able to make to the reproaches of the just Judge, 
for having lost His grace when it was so easy to 
have preserved it?" If the means of avoiding sin 
had been very difficult, the case of the rej)robate 
might seem hard, but who can pity him who has 
but to obey the easy command : ^^Take and eat, if 
any man shall eat of this bread he shall live for- 
ever." For a Catholic to fall into mortal sin is as 
if one should starve at a splendid banquet ; and for 
a Christian to die in the power of the devil, is to be 
in love with death. 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 159 

Bat there are other riches in this Blessed Sacra- 
ment which remain to be unfolded. It not only- 
increases in lis sanctifying grace and preserves us 
from mortal sin^ but it truly unites us to God^ and 
this is the third effect of this Holy Sacrament. The 
most obvious sense in which this Sacrament is said 
to unite us to God, is that w^hich is suggested by 
the doctrine of the Keal Presence itself. In the 
Holy Eucharist we receive the very Body and Blood 
of Jesus Christ, and as members of the same family 
are united together by the ties of the common blood 
which flows in their veins, so we become truly kins- 
men of Christ, by participation of the Blood which 
He received from His most Holy Mother, and shed 
on the Cross for us. Hence, St. Alphonsus says, 
•• that as the food we take is changed into our blood, 
so^ in Holy Communion, God becomes one with us; 
with this difference, however, that, whereas earthly 
food is changed into our substance, we assume, as it 
were, the nature of Jesus Christ as He Himself de- 
clared to St. Augustine, saying, ^^It is not I that 
shall be changed into you, but you shall be changed 
into me/' ^^Yes," says St. Cyril of Alexandria, 
^'he who communicates unites himself as closely to 
Jesus Christ, as two pieces of wax, when melted, 
become one.'' And the Saints have always been so 
penetrated with this belief that, after Holy Commu- 
nion, they would exclaim : ^'0 Jesus ! now Thou 
art mine and I am Thine ! Thou art in me, and I 



160 



THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 



am in Thee ! Now Thou belongest entirely to me^ 
and I belong entirely to Thee. Thy soul is minej 
and my soul is Thine ! Thy life is mine, and my 
life is Thine !" But this is not all. We are united 
to our Lord's sacred Humanity in order that we 
may be made conformable to His image in will and 
affections ; accordingly, in the Eucharist, we receive 
from Him infused virtues, esiDccially faith, hope and 
charity, the three distinguishing characteristics of 
the children of God. As to faith it is so much 
increased by Communion that this Sacrament might 
be called the Sacrament of Faith, not only because 
it makes the largest demand on our faith in any 
mystery of our Holy Eeligion, but also because It 
more than any other increases and confirms it. It 
seems as if God, in reward of the generous faith 
with which we believe this doctrine often gives an 
inward light, which enables the soul in some way 
to comprehend it^ and with it the other truths of 
faith. So the Council of Trent says, ^^that the 
mode of Christ's presence in the Eucharist can 
hardly be expressed in words, but the pious mind, 
illuminated by faith, can conceive of it.'' The re- 
ception of this Sacrament is the best explanation of 
the difficulties which sense opposes to it. It was in 
the breaking of hreaA at Emmaus that the two dis- 
ciples recognized Jesus. He Himself gives us evi- 
dence of the reality of the Divine Presence in this 
heavenly food, and makes us taste what we do not 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 161 

understand. One day a holy soul said to Father 
Surin, of the Society of Jesus : '^ I would not ex- 
change a single one of the divine communications 
which I receive in Holy Communion, for anything 
whatever men or angels might present to me.'' 

Sometimes God adds to these favors the gift of a 
spiritual joy and delight, intense and indescribable. 
St, Thomas says, '^that Holy Communion is a 
spiritual eating, which communicates an actual 
delight to such souls as receive it devoutly and with 
due preparation.'' And the effect of this delight, 
according to St. Cyprian, is that it detaches the 
heart from all worldly pleasures, and makes it die 
to everything perishable. Nay, this joy is some- 
times even communicated to the exterior senses, 
penetrating them with a sweetness so great that 
nothing in the world can be compared to it. St. 
Francis, St. Monica, St. Agnes and many others 
are witnesses of this, who, intoxicated with celestial 
sweetness in Holy Communion, exulted for joy and 
exclaimed with the psalmist: ^^ My heart and my 
flesh have rejoiced in the living God. For what 
have I in heaven ? and besides Thee what do I de- 
sire upon earth ? Thou art the God of my heart 
and the God that is my portion forever. My Jesus, 
my Love, my God, my All." ! what a firm faith 
men would have in this mystery did they commu- 
nicate often and devoutly ! One single Communion 
is better than all the arguments of the schools* 
14* 



162 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

We have not a lively faitli^ we think little of 
Heaven, of Hell, of the evil of sin, of the goodness 
of our Lord and the duty of loving Him, because 
we stay away from Communion ; let us eat and our 
eyes shall be opened. ^' Taste and see that the 
Lord is sweet." Hope^ also, receives a great increase 
from this Sacrament for it is the pledge of our inher- 
itance and has the promise of eternal life attached 
to it. ^^ He who eateth of this Bread shall live for- 
ever. He who eateth My Flesh and drinketh My 
Blood abideth in Me and I in him. As the Father 
Who liveth sent Me, and I live by the Father, so he 
that eateth Me the same also shall live by Me. He 
shall never hunger or thirst. He shall not die, but 
have life everlasting, and I will raise him up on the 
last day.'' (St. John, chap. 6.) 

St. Paul argues that ^' if we are sons then we are 
heirs, heirs indeed of God, and joint heirs with 
Christ :" and elsewhere he says, ^' that we glory in 
hope of the glory of God.'' It is true that in this 
life we can never have an infallible assurance of our 
salvation, but Holy Communion most powerfully 
confirms and strengthens our hope of obtaining 
Heaven and the graces necessary for living and 
dying holily. However great the fear and diffi- 
dence may be with which our sins inspire us, what 
soul is not comforted when our Saviour Himself en- 
ters the heart and seems to say : '*' Ask whatever 
you will and it shall be done unto you." ^' Can I 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 163 

refuse the less Who have given the greater ? Can 
I withhold any necessary graces Who have given 
Myself? Shall I refuse to bring you to reign with 
Me in Heaven, Who am come down on earth to 
dwell with you?" 

Charity, however, is the virtue which is more 
especially nourished by the Holy Eucharist. This 
may be called, by eminence, the proper effect of this 
Sacrament, as indeed it is of the Incarnation itself. 
^^ I am come to cast fire upon the earth, and what 
will I but that it be kindled !" (St. Luke xii., 49.) 
And St. Dionysius, the Areopagite, says that 
^^ Jesus Christ in the most Holy Eucharist is a fire 
of charity," It could not be otherwise. As a burn- 
ing house sets the adjacent ones on fire, so the 
Heart of Jesus Christ which is always burning 
with love, communicates the flames of charity to 
those who receive Him in Holy Communion ; ac- 
cordingly, St. Mary Magdalene of Pazzi, St. Cath- 
erine of Sienna, St. Theresa, St. Philip Neri, St. 
Francis Xavier^. and thousands of others, by their 
frequent Communions, became, as it were, furnaces 
of divine love. ^^ Do you not feel," said St. Vincent 
of Paul to his brothers in religion, ^^ do you not be- 
come sensible of the divine fire in your hearts, after 
having received the adorable Body of Jesus Christ 
in the Holy Eucharist ?" In proof of the strength 
of love which souls derive from Holy Communion, 
I might appeal to the ecstacies and raptures which so 



164 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

many souls have experienced at the reception of the 
most Holy Eucharist. What were all these favors but 
flames of Divine love, enkindled by this heavenly 
fire which, as it were, destroyed in them themselves 
and conformed them to the image of their Saviour. 
Or, I might take my proof from those sweet tears 
which flow from the eyes of so many servants of 
God, when at the Communion-rail they receive the 
Bread of Heaven. But I have a better proof than 
these transports of devotion : I mean suff'ering. 
This is the true test of love. St. Paul says that 
the Christian glories in tribulation, because the 
charity of God is poured out into his heart, and so 
the Holy Eucharist, by infusing love into our hearts, 
gives us strength to suffer for Christ. 

In the life of St. Ludwina, who was sick for 
thirty-eight years uninterruptedly, we read that, in 
the beginning of her sickness^ she shrunk from suf- 
fering. By a particular disposition of Providence, 
however, a celebrated servant of God^ John Por, 
went to see her, and perceiving that she was not 
quite resigned to the will of God, he exhorted her to 
meditate frequently on the sufferings of Jesus Christ, 
that by the remembrance of His Passion she might 
gain courage to suffer more willingly. She prom- 
ised to do so, and fulfilled her promise, but she 
could not find any relief for her soul. Every medi- 
tation was disgusting and unpleasant, and she be- 
gan again to break out into her usual complaints. 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 165 

After awhile, her director returned to her and asked 
her how she had succeeded in meditating upon our 
Lord's Passion, and what profit she had derived from 
it. ^^0 my Father/' she answered, '' your counsel 
was very good indeed, but the greatness of my suffer- 
ing does not allow me to find any consolation in med- 
itating on my Saviour's sorrows. He exhorted her 
for sometime to continue this exercise, no matter how 
insipid soever it might be to her ; but perceiving at 
last that she drew no fruit from it, his zeal sug- 
gested another means. He gave Her Holy Commu- 
nion, and afterwards whispered in her ear: ^^Till 
now I have exhorted you to the continual remem- 
brance of Christ's sufferings as a remedy for your 
pains, but now let Jesus Christ Himself exhort 
you." Behold! no sooner had she swallowed the 
sacred host than she felt such a great love for Jesus, 
and such an ardent desire to become like unto Him 
in His sufferings, that she broke out into sobs and 
sighs, and for two weeks was hardly able to stop her 
tears. From that moment the pains and sufferings 
of her Saviour remained so deeply impressed upon 
her mind that she thought of them all the time, 
and thus was enabled patiently to suffer for Him, 
Who, for the love of her, had endured so many and 
so great pains and torments. Her disease at last 
grew so violent that her flesh began to corrupt and to 
be filled with worms, and the putrifaction extended 
even internally, so that she had to suffer the most 



166 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

excniciating pains. But, comforted by the example 
of Jesus Christj she not only praised God and gave 
thanks to Him for all her sufferings, but even vehe- 
mently desired to suffer still more ; nay, by medi- 
tating on the Passion of Jesus Christy she was so 
much inflamed with love that she used to say, '^ it 
was not she who suffered, but her Lord Jesus Christ 
Who suffered in her/' (Surius 14 April in vita. 
S. Ludwin^e, part I. c. 14.) Thus, by Holy Com- 
munion, this saint received a grace by which she 
has merited to be numbered among the most patient 
of saints. Nor is this a single case. Animated by 
this heavenly food, St. Lawrence braved the flames, 
St. Vincent the rack, St. Sebastian the shower of 
arrows, St. Ignatius, Bp., the fury of lions, and 
many other martyrs every kind of torture which 
the malice of the devil could invent, content if they 
could but return their Saviour love for love, life for 
life, death for death. They embraced the very in- 
struments of their tortures ; yea,, they even exulted 
and gloried in them. Now, this was the effect of 
the Holy Eucharist ; this life-giving bread imparted 
to them courage and joy in every pain and trial. 
For this very reason, in the early times of the per- 
secutions, all Christians, in order to be prepared for 
martyrdom, received the Blessed Sacrament every 
day, and when the danger was too pressing for 
them to assemble together, they even carried the 
sacred host to their own homes that they might 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 167 

communicate themselves early in tlie morning. 
(The same was done by Mary, Queen of Scots, du- 
ring her captivity in England when she was de- 
prived of the ministry of a priest.) It was for the 
same reason that Christ instituted the Holy Eucha- 
rist just before His Passion, that He might thereby 
fortify His Apostles for the trials that were coming 
on them. It is true we have not so fierce a conflict 
to endure as the early Christians had, nor has any 
one such a dreadful sickness as St. Ludwina had ; 
but, in our lighter trials, we have also need of this 
fortitude of love ; nor is it refused to us. Multi- 
tudes of pious souls confess that it is the Holy Com- 
munion alone which keeps them steady in the prac- 
tice of virtue, and cheerful amid all the vicissitudes 
of life. How often do we hear such souls declaring 
that on the days they do not receive Communion 
they seem to themselves lame and miserable ; every- 
thing goes wrong with them, and all their crosses 
seem tenfold heavier than usual. But when, in the 
morning, they have had the happiness of partaking 
of the Body of Christ, everything seems to go well ; 
the daily annoyances of their state seem to disap- 
pear ; they are happy and joyous ; words of kind- 
ness seem to come naturally in their mouths^ and 
life is no longer the burden which once it seemed 
to be. truly wonder-working Sacrament ! Mar- 
velous invention of Divine Love ! surpassing all 
power of speech to describe, or thought to fathom ! 



/6r 

Stfib THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

When the children of Israel found in the fields the 
bread from heaven which God gave them in the 
wilderness, they called it ^''Manhu/' ^^ What is 
it?'' because they did not know what it was. So, 
after all that we have said of the true Manna, the 
Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, we must confess 
that we are unable to comprehend it. ^' Man does 
not live on bread alone/' He has a higher life 
than that which is nourished by the fruits of the 
ground, a spiritual and divine life, and this life is 
nourished by the body of Christ. Hidden under 
the Sacramental form, our Divine Saviour comes 
down to make us more and more acceptable to Him ; 
to preserve us, in this dangerous world, from mor- 
tal sin ; to make us true children of God ; to con- 
sole us in our exile ; to give us a pledge of our eter- 
nal happiness ; to shed abroad in our hearts the 
love of God, And as if this was not enough, and 
as if to set the seal on the rest. He is sometimes 
pleased to make His own most Sacred Body supply 
the place of all other nourishment, and miracu- 
lously to sustain even the natural life of His ser- 
vants by this Sacramental food. St. Catherine of 
Sienna, from Ash Wednesday to Ascension day, 
took no other food than Holy Communion. (Surius 
29 April.) A certain holy virgin of Kome spent 
five whole lents without tasting anything else but 
the Bread of Angels. (Cacciaguerra.) 

Nicholas de la Flue, of whom I have spoken, for 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 169 

fifteen successive years lived witljout other nourisli- 
ment than the Sacred Body of our Lord. (Simon Ma- 
jolus Canicular. Collet IV.) And St. Liberalis, 
Bishop of Athens, fasted every day in the week^ tak- 
ing nothing whatever, not even the Blessed Sacra- 
ment, and on Sunday his only nourishment consisted 
of this heavenly food, yet he was always strong and 
vigorous. (P. Nat. L. IV., Collat. Saifct. c. xciii.) 
We can but repeat, wonder-working Sacrament ! ! 
We are at a loss what to say. We are silenced by 
the greatness of God's bounty. What can we do 
but humbly thank God in the depths of our hearts 
for so great a blessing, so rich a consolation in this 
valley of tears. There is nothing, short of the 
vision of God in heaven, which the mind of man 
can conceive so precious as one Communion. ^' Thou 
hast given us, Lord, bread from heaven, having 
in it all manner of delights !'' '^0 sacred banquet 
in which Christ is received, the memory of His 
Passion is celebrated, the mind is filled with grace, 
and the pledge of future glory is given to us ! Al- 
lelujaT' 



15 



170 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 



CHAPTEE IX. 

THE EXCUSES OF THOSE WHO DO NOT COMMUNICATE 
FREQUENTLY. 

AFTEK having heard of the great desire of 
Jesus Christ to unite Himself to us in Holy 
Communion^ and the great benefit which we reap 
from such ^ union, we might naturally expect to 
find men eager to avail themselves of a means of 
grace so rich and so powerful. But our greatest 
misery is that we are blind to our true happiness. 
Such is the deceitfulness of sin and the subtlety of 
the devil, that almost every one has some reason to 
give why he at least should not receive Communion 
frequently ; and thus all the arguments I have pre- 
sented in favor of frequent Communion are fre- 
quently set asidC; under the most silly and frivolous 
pretexts. It will not be without utility to consider, 
in detail, the reasons which are alleged for such 
strange conduct, and I will, therefore, dear reader, 
call up before you, the various classes of Catholics 
who do not often approach Holy Communion, and 
examine the excuses which they give, that you may 
judge of their validity. I will make the examina- 
tion class by class. 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 171 

Why do you not go often to Communion ? 

1st Excuse, Because I do not receive the great 
graces you spoke of in the preceding chapter. 

Ansiver, How do you know that you do not re- 
ceive them ? Is it because you do not feel them ? 
But this is no certain proof that you do not really 
receive them. If you were sick and had no relish 
for food^ would the food, on that account, cease to 
nourish you ? Now it is the same with regard to 
the Blessed Sacrament, the spiritual food of your 
soul. Consolations and delights are graces which. 
God bestows when and upon whom He thinks fit ; 
and if He often deprives His servants of them, it is 
to try them, to keep them humble, and to give 
them an opportunity of meriting greater graces. 
As corporeal food nourishes you and makes you 
strong without your perceiving it, so also does this 
heavenly food silently and imperceptibly enrich your 
soul with grace. You cannot see a plant grow, but 
you can see very well that it has grown ; in like 
manner you do not see your soul grow in the 
spiritual life by receiving Holy Communion, yet 
experience shows you that it really does grow. You 
now live in the fear of God ; you have not commit- 
ted a mortal sin for years, perhaps not even in your 
whole life. You do not grow lukewarm in the prac- 
tice of. virtue ; you fulfil your duties faithfully. 
Are not all these great graces and favors ? and are 
they not all the admirable effects of Holy Com- 



172 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

munion ? Is not the remedy that protects us from 
disease better than one that restores us to health ? 
But let us suppose the truth of what you allege. I 
ask you why do you not receive great fruit from this 
Sacrament ? Do you prepare yourself sufficiently ? 
Do you not approach the altar negligently? Do 
you consider beforehand what you are about to do, 
and afterwards, do you reflect sufficiently on what 
you have done? Or do you commit venial sins 
wilfully and with full deliberation ? Are not these 
the reasons why you fail to derive, from the recep- 
tion of this Sacramentj that profit which others 
draw from it? If so, you must ascribe the fault to 
yourself, that Holy Communion does not produce in 
you all the fruit it should. 

Why do you not receive Holy Communion fre- 
quently ? 

2d Excuse, I fear to lose my reverence for it : 
the proverb says : '' Familiarity begets contempt.'' 

Ansicer, I admit the proverb is true in regard to 
men, but not in regard to God. The more familiar 
you become with men, the more faults and defects 
you discover in them, and on this account you will 
feel less respect for them ; but this is not the case in 
regard to God. The more intimate you become 
with Him, the oftener you approach Him,*the bet- 
ter you become acquainted with Him ; the more 
perfections you will discover in Him, and the more 
you will love Him. Is it not a blasphemy to say 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 173 

conversing with God makes man worse and more 
wicked ; and that, in order to be a saint one must 
withdraw from Him ? Can the most perfect exercise 
of religion derogate from the respect which we owe 
to this Sacrament? When do you make acts of 
faith, hope, Jove^ adoration and humility, if not 
after Communion? The Church 2^'^^^^^^^^^ daily 
Communion in the first ages of Christianity ; and 
she now strongly recommends it by the Council of 
Trent. Can the Holy Church recommend or advise 
anything sinful ? 

Why do you communicate so seldom ? 

od Excuse, Because I fear to receive Holy Com- 
munion unworthily. 

Ansioer, I suppose you mean by this, that you do 
not know for certain, that you are in the state of 
grace. ' It is true we are required to be in the state 
of grace, but we are not required to have any 
greater certainty of it than that which is ordinarily 
given to good Christians. Will you wait till an 
Angel comes down from heaven to tell you that you 
are in the state of grace? Do you not know, that 
you can place far more reliance on the assurance of 
your confessor, than in that of an Angel? If an 
Angel should appear to you, you might have some 
reason to fear that it was the devil, come to deceive 
you ; but you know that in listening to your con- 
fessor, you have the promise of Christ that you shall 
not be led astray. Hence, St. Alphonsus says : 
15* 



174 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

^^ Place niore confidence in the minister of God than 
in the revelations of all the Angels of Paradise/' 
He adds_, moreover, that there is no species of dis- 
obedience more hurtful than to omit a Communion 
prescribed by one's confessor, because such diso- 
bedience proceeds from a want of humility. There- 
fore, when you have the permission of your director, 
go forward with confidence. No one goes trem- 
blingly to a feast, but cheerfully and joyfully. The 
Son of God does not appear on our altars under the 
appearance of bread, in order to be regarded with 
fear, but to be approached with love and desire. 
Besides, if you fear to approach this Sacrament, do 
you not also fear to stay away from it. The Son of 
God declares in the parable of the great supper, 
that the guests who declined their lord's invitation 
were entirely excluded from his friendship, even 
though their excuses for staying away had some 
plausibility. Should not this example cause you to 
fear ? 

Why do you not communicate often? 

Atli Excuse. I wish indeed to do so, and trust that 
I am in the state of grace, but I am so much afraid 
of committing a sacrilege. 

Ansiver, One never commits a sacrilege without 
intending it. This is but a deceit of the devil. ! 
execrable malice ! He seduced our first parents by 
the promise of a happy life to eat of that fruit which 
brought death into the world, and now he makes 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 175 

every effort to prevent Christians from eating the 
true Bread of Life, by inspiring the fear that it may 
prove the cause of eternal death ! 

Why do you not communicate often ? 

hth Excuse, Because I commit so many faults, 
that it would seem like presumption to receive Holy 
Communion often. 

Ansicer, It is no presumption for one who has 
many imperfections and defects to go often to Com- 
munion. Nay, it is not presumptuous to go, even 
though one commits many faults, provided they are 
not altogether wilful and deliberate. Do you think 
you will commit fewer faults by staying away from 
Communion? Can you avoid sin without God's 
grace ? And how will you obtain His grace if not 
from this Sacrament ? I would rather advise you to 
go often, because you are so imperfect, for the longer 
you stay away, the more imperfect you will become. 
The Church teaches that the Holy Eucharist is food 
and medicine at the same time ; food for the healthy, 
and medicine for the sick. Hence a holy Dominican 
nun used to say : ^' For my part, being sensible of 
my unworthiness, I would wish to communicate 
three times a day, for by-more frequent Communion 
I should hope to render myself more worthy.'' Did 
not the Son of God answer to the Pharisees, who 
were scandalized at seeing Him eat with sinners: 
'* They who are in health need not a physician, but 
they that are sick." You say, ^'lam not worthy,'^ 



176 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

thinking, perhaps, that such a sentiment proceeds 
from humility ; but you ought to know^ that, gene- 
rally, it shows greater humility to receive frequently 
than to receive seldom, because one who receives fre- 
quently, by applying so often a remedy to his sick- 
ness, acknowledges his infirmities. If, indeed, your 
abstaining from Holy Communion really proceeds 
from humility, it is not displeasing to God, but it 
would be a thousand times more acceptable to Him 
if you would join confidence to your humility. Fear 
is good, but love is far better. One day when St. 
Frances of Eome was going to receive Communion, 
the devil said to her: ^^How can you, who are so 
full of venial sins^ dare to receive the Immaculate 
Lamb!'' She instantly perceived that the enemy 
intended to deprive her of so great a joy, and 
silenced him by spitting in his face. After this the 
Blessed Virgin appeared to her^ and having praised 
her conduct, she said that our defects, instead of 
being an obstacle, should be an incentive to Com- 
munion ; since in Communion we find the remedy 
for all our miseries. 

Why do you communicate so seldom ? 

Uh Excuse, Because I am not holy enough to re- 
ceive Holy Communion worthily. 

Answer, If you mean that, in order to receive 
Holy Communion worthily, it is required to have a 
holiness equal to His Whom you receive, then not 
even the Blessed Virgin was worthy. If you mean 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 177 

that it is necessary to have a purity without spot, 
then the Apostles were unworthy, because even they 
had imperfections and defects ; and much more so 
were the first Christians, and yet they communi- 
cated daily. If you mean only that it is required 
to make a suitable preparation, the Church declares 
that the necessary preparation consists in not hav- 
ing, knowingly, a mortal sin on your conscience 
which you have not confessed, although, indeed, 
she advises and exhorts her children to a better and 
more perfect preparation, namely, to endeavor to 
avoid venial sins, and strive earnestly to correct 
their faults. What is it, then, that keeps you back 
from Holy Communion? Do not fancy that the 
Son of God requires, as.a preparation for the recep- 
tion of a Sacrament, what is properly its fruit, effect 
and end any more than a physician requires a sick 
person to be healthy, as a preparation for taking 
medicine. Holiness and purity of soul are the ef- 
fects of this Sacrament, according to the declaration 
of the Council of Trent ; is it not, then, folly and 
injustice to demand them as a necessary preparation 
for its reception ? Tell me, if those virtues were 
required, who could ever communicate even at Eas- 
ter ? 

Why do you stay away from Holy Communion ? 

^th Excuse, Alas ! I have offended God so often 
and grievously in my past life, that I dare not go 
often to communicate. 



178 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

Answer, Have you ofFended Him more deeply 
than St. Augustine? Have you committed more 
sins than St. Margaret of Cortona did before her 
conversion ? And do you not remember that our 
Lord one day told this saint that He would give her 
confessor a great reward for having advised her to 
go often to Communion ? or have you forgotten that 
He said to the venerable Prudentiana Zagnoni : ^^If 
you frequently receive Me in Holy Communion, I 
will forget all your ingratitude ?" Kemember, that 
it was for the sake of sinners that the Son of God 
came down from heaven. If you are truly sorry 
for your sins, if you have sincerely confessed them 
all, if you are firmly resolved not to sin any more, 
then you have even a special right and claim to go 
to Communion. Our Lord said : ^^ I am not come 
to call the just, but sinners to penance." 

Why do you not go oftener to Communion ? 

8^^ Excuse, I fear that it may come to be a mere 
custom. 

Answer, A good custom is a good thing. Ought 
you to give up hearing Mass daily from fear of be- 
coming used to it ? or omit your daily prayers from 
an apprehension of praying through custom ? 

Why do you not go often to Communion ? 

^tli Excuse. Because, when I do go, I am so cold, 
distracted and indevout. 

Answer, There is a great difference between de- 
votion and the feeling of devotion. One may have 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 179 

much devotion without feeling it at all. Sensible 
devotion is not always the best, for it is liable to 
many illusions. Besides this, it does not always 
depend upon us. God grants it to whom He pleases. 
If sensible devotion were required, most undoubt- 
edly those who have it not would not be allowed to 
receive Holy Communion at Easter. If you feel no 
devotion, humble yourself before God, but do not 
stay away from Him. The devotion which is neces- 
sary for receiving Holy Communion consists in ap- 
proaching your Lord with humility, confidence and 
love ; with a desire to honor Jesus Christ, to unite 
yourself to Him, and to obey Him. You say : ^^I 
am so cold ;'' but tell me, will you become warm by 
staying away from the fire ? Would it not be wiser 
to go to Communion in order to become devout? 
Do you not know that Holy Communion is a fire 
which enkindles love, devotion and spiritual joy in 
the heart ? Is it not true that the less frequently 
you receive the less desire you have to receive, and 
that the oftener you receive the more you will wish 
to receive ? 

Why do you not receive Communion more fre- 
quently ? 

10th Excuse, Because it seems to me that I feel 
more devotion when I receive but seldom. 

Ansiver. That may be true ; although it is not 
the general experience ; however, it will always be 
true if you communicate seldom, your soul will lack 



180 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

grace and fervor. One who should keep a continual 
fast would become very weak and attenuated, al- 
though he might take his scanty food with the 
keenest relish. 

Why do you not receive Holy Communion fre- 
quently ? 

11th Excuse, My confessor does not allow me. 

Ansioer. If this is really the case, you must obey, 
and supply, as well as you can, the want of the 
Holy Sacrament by multiplying spiritual Commu- 
nions. Say to Jesus Christ: ^^Lord, I would re- 
ceive Thee more frequently if I were not prevented 
by obedience," and He will be pleased with your 
obedience and your desire for Holy Communion. 
But are you certain that your confessor is not inclined 
to allow you frequent Communion ? Do you often 
ash leave to communicate more frequently ? This^ 
at least, is in your power, and it is very useful, and 
by no means opposed to the perfection of obedience. 
Your confessor knows that, to produce great fruit, 
this divine food must be eaten with hunger, and as 
long as you show but little eagerness for the Holy 
Sacrament, he will not advise or permit you to com- 
municate often. But, perhaps, you have asked for 
it several times, and he has not granted your re- 
quest. Well, and how did you ask? Did you 
imitate St. Catherine of Sienna, who, when de- 
prived of Communion by her confessor, exclaimed : 
'-^ Father, give my soul its food !'' Had you, like 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. ^ 181 

lier^ manifested with humility and resignation this 
holy hiinger^, your confessor would have treated you 
very differently ; but because you appear cold and 
not unwilling to be repulsed from Communion, he 
prudently abstains from advising you to receive it 
very often. 

Why do you receive Holy Communion so unfre- 
quently ? 

\Wi Excuse, I have not time to prepare myself 
as I ought. 

Ansiver. How much time do you need for prepa- 
ration ? Must you spend the whole morning in 
prayer or in reading pious books ? St. Theresa re- 
ceived Communion every day for twenty-three years ; 
do you think she had nothing else to attend to ? I 
think she w^as more busy than you w^ill ever be. 
The first Christians went daily to Communion ; do 
you imagine their occupations were of less conse- 
quence than yours, or their family affairs less trou- 
blesome ? Shall I tell you the reason why the saints 
and first Christians were able to prepare themselves 
for daily Communion ? They were more fervent than 
the Christians of the present day^ and had a greater 
love for Jesus Christ. If you foresee that you will 
not have time in the morning to prepare for Com- 
munion, endeavor the preceding evening to make 
some preparation, by reading some pious book and 
making the acts which ought to be made in the morn- 
ing ; or rise a little before the usual time^ and spend 
16 



182 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

whatever time may be at your disposal in preparing 
yourself as well as you can ; or endeavor to perform 
the duties of your state with a view to please God^ 
and you may rest assured that this will be an excel- 
lent preparation for your Communion. St. Mary 
Magdalene of Pazzi used to say to her sisters in re- 
ligion : '' Offer to God all your actions as a prepa- 
ration for Communion ; perform them with the in- 
tention of pleasing Him, and communicate." 

Why do you not communicate often ? 

13th Excuse. I abstain in order to avoid the re- 
marks of others. 

Answer, If you communicate by the advice of 
your confessor, and through a desire of correcting 
your faults and advancing in divine love, you need 
not be disturbed at what others may say about you. 
Father Avila used to say that they who censured 
their neighbors for receiving Communion frequently, 
jDcrform the office of the devil. Why, then, should 
you pay attention to such people ? If it be wrong 
to listen to the devil, is it right to listen to his 
agents? Do you not know that everything good 
must meet with contradiction ? Let people say 
what they please ; at the day of judgment they will 
find out their mistake, and then they will despise 
you for having listened to them. 

Why do you communicate so seldom ? 

l^tth Excuse. Because the Church does not com- 
mand me to receive oftener than once a year, and in 
obeying her I cannot go astray. 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 183 

Answer. If the Church commanded you to eat 
meat or drink wine only once in the year, would 
you be so exact in keeping to the letter of the law? 
The Church requires us to abstain from flesh-meat 
on Fridays, and to fast during Lent and at certain 
other seasons ; do you never, for a slight cause, seek 
exemption from this precept? How is it that, for 
the most part, those who are such literal interpreters 
of the law of Easter Communion, are so lax in the 
observance of the law of fasting? How is it, that 
they who find one Communion a year just enough, 
generally complain of one Lent a year as a great 
deal too much? Ah ! I fear that faith and rever- 
ence for the Church have but little share in this 
excuse, and that the real reason of your urging this 
precept, is the earthliness and sordidness of your 
affections. Your desires are low and groveling ; 
you have more relish for the food of the body than 
for the food of the soul. With the Israelites in the 
desert, you prefer the good things of Egypt to the 
Manna that comes from heaven ; and your taste is 
so corrupted by the impure pleasures of the world, 
that you can find no delight in the sweet fountains 
that flow from the Saviour's side. Believe me, this 
is no good sign ; it is a sign of great danger ; for, 
as the Eoyal Prophet has said, '' Behold, they that 
go far from God shall perish.'"' But I have another 
remark to make on your excuse. You have not rep- 
resented the* precept of the Church quite exactly. 



184 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

You have left out an important word. The Church 
says that her children must receive Holy Com- 
munion ''at least once a year/' I Avill tell you.. 
In former times Christians were accustomed to com- 
municate every day, and then their lives were holy, 
and edifying, and chaste, and humble ; and infidels, 
and heretics, struck by the purity of their manners, 
were converted in crowds to the faith. But, in after 
ages, luxury crept in, and the world and the flesh 
had sway, and too many grew cold in love and lost 
their relish for this heavenly food. And now what 
can the Church do to cure the evil ? If she were to 
make it obligatory to receive Holy Communion fre- 
quently, she would run the risk of multiplying 
mortal sins, and of plunging her imperfect mem- 
bers more deeply into guilt. She uses^ therefore, 
a wise and loving moderation, and, as a tender 
mother, when every other expedient fails, speaks 
sternly to her sick child, and forces it to take the 
food or medicine which is absolutely necessary to 
life, — she enjoins, under pain of mortal sin, a single 
Communion in the year, as the least ivhich can be re- 
quired of (I Christian, But is this all that she 
wishes us to do ? Oh ! no. She desires that we 
should continually nourish ourselves with the Bread 
of Life. In the Council of Trent she bewails the 
disuse of daily Communion, and earnestly exhorts 
all the faithful to a frequent use of this sanctifying 
food. Since, then, you insist so much -on obedience 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 185 

to the Church, show the spirit of an obedient child, 
and fulfil her ardent wish. It is true, you will not 
fall under her censures if you receive but once a 
year, but you will be a much better Christian if you 
receive more frequently. 

Why do you communicate so seldom? * 
15th Excuse, I do not see any necessity for it ! 
There are many others wlio do not receive oftener 
than I do, that is, once or twice a year, and yet 
they are good Christians ; yea, as good as those who 
receive very often. 

Ansioer. I will not dispute your assertion. No 
one knows the heart of another, and I rather wish 
that you should form as charitable a judgment as 
you can of your neighbors who do not receive often. 
Neither will I say of all those who go often to Com- 
munion, that they are exactly what they ought to 
be. But scarcely any one will affirm that persons 
who communicate but once or twice a year, are, 
generally speaking, as exemplary in their conduct 
as those who communicate frequently. Point out to 
me those whom you consider the most pious ; who 
live in the world without following its manners or 
adopting its principles ; who, when adversity over- 
takes them, are calm and resigned to the will of 
God, and, when it overtakes their neighbor, are 
ready for every act of charity ; who are meek and 
kind, rich in good works and fond of prayer ; who 
are constant in their attendance at Mass, diligent in 
16* 



186 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

seeking spiritual instruction^ faithful in their duties, 
and edifying in their conversation — and I will show 
you these same persons regularly at the altar every 
monthj fortnight, or week ; yes, even oftener. G-rant 
that, among these frequent communicants, there is 
but one who lives a truly devout life, you have 
sufficient evidence of the fruit of this Sacrament ; 
for you know that no one can live holily without 
the grace of God, and that this Sacrament was in- 
stituted to impart grace to us in an abundant 
measure. ^^I am come that they may have life, 
and that they may have it more abundantly.'' 
(John X. 10.) But, after all, is this the proper way 
to reason? Do not ask whether others are good 
Christians, but whether you yourself are. You 
know a good Christian means something more than 
one who does not rob or commit murder, or such 
like crimes. A good Christian means a person who 
endeavors to keep his heart pure in the sight of 
God, and to overcome pride, envy, avarice, unchaste- 
ness and gluttony, to which his low^er nature is so 
prone. Now, do you find ivithin you no sting of 
the flesh ? no movements of hatred or desires of 
revenge? no rebellion of pride? Palladius tells 
the story of a young man w4io, after endeavoring 
for a long time to corrupt a virtuous married wo- 
man, and finding her chastity proof against all his 
assaults, sought to revenge himself upon her through 
the intervention of the devil. By the permission of 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 187 

God^ the evil one caused her to assume the appear- 
ance of a wild beast, and her husband, greatly dis- 
tressed at so horrible a transformation, took her to 
St. Macarius, that by his prayers and blessing she 
might be delivered from the malice of the devil. 
The Saint easily effected this by his power with 
God ; and after the good woman was restored to 
her natural appearance, he gave her this advice : 
^^In future go oftener to Communion than you have 
hitherto done ; for know, that the reason why God 
permitted you to appear in such a form, is your neg- 
ligence in not having received Communion for five 
successive weeks. So it has been revealed to me 
from on high : remember it, and take it to heart.'' 
Five weeks ! and you stay away for five months, 
yea, for an entire year, and find no necessity for 
receiving oftener ? And do you think the devil has 
been idle, and that no hideous transformation has 
taken place inyour soul in the eyes of the Angels ? 
Has not your soul become a sow, in impurity ? or a 
tiger, in rage ? or a viper, in treachery ? or a filthy 
creeping worm, in its low and groveling affections? 
I leave it to yourself to answer. God grant that it 
may not be so. I know that it is the testimony and 
experience of the Saints, that with all their efforts 
and continual use of the Sacran^ents, they found it 
a hard thing to keep their hearts clean ; and if, for 
a short time they were prevented from receiving the 
Bread of Heaven, their hearts became withered and 



188 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

dry, and they exclaimed: ^^I am smitten as grass, 
and my heart is withered, because I forgot to eat my 
Bread/' (Ps. 100, 5.) I also know that Holy 
Scripture says : ^^ They that go far from Thee shall 
perish/' (Ps. 12, 27.) 

And now, dear reader, I think you have come to 
the same conclusion, that there is no valid excuse 
for not communicating frequently, and that, for the 
most part, they who give these excuses are in- 
fluenced by a secret unwillingness to lead a Chris- 
tian life in good earnest. They are unwilling to 
practise retirement, detachment from creatures, and 
self-denial. They stay away from Communion as 
long as they can in order to avoid the rebuke of 
Jesus Christ for their sensuality, pride, vanity, un- 
charitableness and sloth. Miserable are the conse- 
quences of such a course of conduct. Not being 
able to find' true j)eace of heart in religion, such 
men seek their consolation in exterior things, and 
multiply faults and imperfections in proportion as 
they withdraw from God. And what is most la- 
mentable is, that not unfrequently their venial sins 
lead them into mortal sins, and that they live in 
such a state for months, remaining in constant dan- 
ger of being overtaken by a sudden and unprovided 
death, the just punishment of their ingratitude and 
indifference towards Jesus Christ. 

I have said ^^for the most part,'' for I know there 
are cases in which reluctance to receive this Sacra- 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 189 

ment proceeds from a vain fear of irreverence in- 
spired by the teaching of misguided men. I have 
said enough already to show the groundlessness af 
such a fear and its injuriousness to God ; would 
that I could sufficiently express its hurtfalness to 
souls. St. Vincent of Paul, when speaking of this 
subject, used to relate the following story: ^^A 
noble and pious lady, who had long been in the 
habit of communicating several times a week, was 
so unhappy as to choose for her confessor a priest 
who was imbued w^ith the principles of the Jansen- 
istic heresy. Her new director at first allowed her 
to go to Holy Communion once a week ; but, after 
a while, he would not permit her to go oftener than 
once a fortnight, and at last he limited her to once 
a month. The lady went on in this way for eight 
months, when, wishing to know the state of her 
soul, she made a careful self-examination ; but, alas ! 
she found her heart so full of irregular appetites, 
passions and imperfections that she was actually 
afraid of herself. Horror-struck at her deteriora- 
tion, she exclaimed : '' Miserable creature that I 
am ! How deeply have I fallen ! How wretchedly 
am I living ! Where w^ill all this end? What is 
the cause of this lamentable state of mine ? I see I 
I see ! It is for no other reason than for my having 
followed these new teachers, and for having aban- 
doned the practice of frequent Communion. ' ' Then, 
giving thanks to God, Who had enlightened her to 



190 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

see her error, she renounced her false guide and re- 
sumed her former practice. Soon after she was ena- 
bled to get the better of her faults and passions, 
and to regain tranquility of heart. how effectu- 
ally do such men perform the work of the devil. 
The great adversary of mankind has nothing so 
much at heart as to keep men back from the means 
of grace, especially the Blessed Eucharist. In his 
warfare against the faithful, he acts as the nations 
T^ordering upon Abyssinia are said to do in their 
conflicts with the inhabitants of that country. The 
Abyssinians are known to observe a strict fast of 
forty days at a certain period of the year, and it is 
the cruel custom of their enemies to wait until they 
are weakened by this long abstinence, and then to 
rush upon them and gain an easy victory. Thus, I 
say, it is with the devil ; a forty days' fast from the 
Blessed Sacrament is a rich conquest for him. It is 
his greatest delight to keej) men away from the al- 
tar. Every excuse for staying away from Holy 
Communion is legitimate in his eyes ; every doc- 
trine which teaches that it is useless or hurtful to 
frequent the Holy Eucharist is stamped with his ap- 
proval ; every taunt with which a tepid Catholic 
upbraids his more fervent brother for nourishing his 
soul often with the Bread of Life, is music in his 
ears. And he is in the right, for let men but once 
be persuaded to deprive themselves of the strength- 
-ening Body of Jesus Christ and the work of Satan 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 191 

is no longer difficult. When the soul is weak in 
grace^ by reason of long abstinence from the Flesh 
of Jesus Christ, then the evil one comes down upon 
it with his strong temptations, and, almost without 
resistance, makes it his slave. .Once more, those 
who discountenance frequent Communion do the 
devil's work. They give hell much pleasure and 
deprive our Lord of great delight. It is on this 
account that our Lord so often visits with severe 
punishments those who dissuade others from receiv- 
ing Him. A woman who mocked St. Catherine of 
Sienna for going so often to Holy Communion, on 
her return home, fell down to the ground and died 
instantly without being able to receive the last Sac- 
raments. Another woman, who had committed the 
same offence, became crazy all at once. Nay, even 
where the fault was much slighter, God has shown 
His displeasure, St. Ludgardis was in the habit of 
receiving Holy Communion very often, but her supe- 
rioress disapproving, forbade her doing so in future. 
The saint obeyed, but, at that very moment, her 
superioress fell sick, and had to suffer the most 
acute pains. At last, suspecting that her sickness 
was a punishment for having interdicted frequent 
Communion to Ludgardis, she withdrew the prohi- 
bition, when lo ! her pains immediately left her, 
and she began to feel better. Come, then, Chris- 
tian, to the heavenly Banquet, which your Divine 
Saviour has prepared for you. ^^All things are 



192 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

ready/' Jesus Christ desires to unite Himself to 
you. ^^ Behold/' He says, '^I stand at the door 
and knock. Open to Me, My Sister, My beloved, 
My dove. My undefiled ; for My head is full of dew, 
and My locks of the drops of the night/' He has 
waited for you through a long night of sin, and 
now that He has restored you to the state of grace 
by the Sacrament of Penance, He wishes to take up 
His abode in j^our heart, and to enrich you with His 
graces. Let no temptation whatever keep you from 
so great a Good. With St. Mary Magdelene of 
Pazzi say : ^' I would rather die than omit a Com- 
munion permitted by obedience. As often as your 
director advises you, go forward to receive your 
Lord with confidence and simplicity of heart ; and 
reply to those who blame you for communicating so 
often_, as St. Francis de Sales advises you to do. 
'^If," says he, ^^they ask you why you communi- 
cate so often, tell them that two classes of persons 
'should communicate frequently : the perfect to per- 
severe in perfection, and the imperfect, to attain 
perfection : the strong not to become weak, and the 
weak to grow strong : the sick to be cured^ and the 
healthy to prevent sickness. And as to yourself, 
tell them that, because you are imperfect, weak and 
infirm, you stand in need of Communion." (In- 
troduction to a Devout Life, c. 21.) Tell them you 
wish to become patient, and therefore you must 
receive your patient Saviour ; that you wish to be- 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 193 

come meek, and therefore you must receive your 
meek Saviour ; that you wish to love contempt, and 
therefore you must receive your despised Saviour ; 
that you wish to love crosses, and therefore you 
must receive your suffering Saviour ; that you wish 
to love poverty, and therefore you must receive 
your poor Saviour ; that you wish to become strong 
against the temptations of the devil, the flesh and 
the world, and therefore you stand in need of your 
comforting and strengthening Saviour. Tell them 
He has said: ^^ He that eateth My Flesh shall live 
by Me/' I wish to live, and therefore "^^ receive 
Jesus, my life, '^ that He may live in me and I in 
Him!'' He, in Whose words you put your trust, 
will justify you ; your soul will continually grow 
stronger in virtue ; your heart will become more 
and more pure ; your passions will become weaker ; 
your faith more lively, your hope more firm, your 
charity more ardent ; you will receive grace to li^e 
in the world as an heir of heaven ; and when at 
your last hour, the priest comes to administer the 
Holy Viaticum, you will be able to say with St. 
Theresa : ^^ My Lord and my Bridegroom, so, then, 
the hour is come at last for which my heart has 
longed so much. Now is the time that we shall see 
each other face to face. Blessed be this hour ! Thy 
will be done ! happy hour, in which my exile 
has an end, and my soul takes its flight to Thee, for 
Whom it has longed so much !'' 

n 



194 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 



CHAPTER X. 

ON UNWORTHY COMMUNION. 

THERE remains^ dear reader, one more subject 
to treat of before my task is ended ; it is un- 
worthy Communion. It is not so agreeable a sub- 
ject as those with w^hich we have been hitherto en- 
gaged ; but reverence for our Divine Saviour, as 
well as zeal for the salvation of souls, require that 
the truth should be told. There is nothing that 
gives more honor to God, and contributes more to 
our own welfare, than the devout reception of the 
Holy Eucharist ; and there is, on the contrary, 
nothing more injurious to God and more hurtful to 
our souls than an unw^orthy Communion. You 
will, perhaps, ask in astonishment: ^^Are there^ 
then, really people so wicked as knowingly and wil- 
fully to make an unworthy Communion?'' Alas ! 
that I must say it, there are but too many. I do 
not mean to say that there are many who receive 
the Sacrament unworthily out of pure malice^ with 
the express purpose of dishonoring God — though as 
we have seen, even that has happened — but I do 
say that there are many who wish to enjoy the priv- 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 195 

ileges of a Christian whilst leading an immoral life, 
and who dare receive the Author of all purity into 
a heart that is defiled by mortal sin. This crime is 
committed by three classes of persons — first, by all 
those who are in mortal sin, and who go to Com- 
munion after having been refused absolution ; sec- 
ondly, by all those who have wdlfully concealed a 
mortal sin" in confession ; and, finally, by all those 
who, though they have confessed all their mortal 
sins, have, nevertheless, no true sorrow for them, 
and no firm purpose of amendment. To the latter 
class belong all those that do not intend to keep the 
promises they made in confession ; who are not wil- 
ling to be reconciled to those who have offended 
them ; those who will not restore the property or 
good name of their neighbor ; those who are not 
fully determined to keep away from taverns, grog- 
shops, and the like that have proved occasions of 
sin to them ; and, finally, all those that will not 
break off sinful and dangerous company. Now, if 
we consider the actual state of the world, we can- 
not help fearing that there are many Christians 
who make bad Communions. The Catholic priest, 
therefore, is in duty bound to warn the faithful 
against this grievous crime. Even in the very first 
ages of Christianity, in those days of primitive fer- 
vor, St. Paul was compelled to warn the Christians 
of Corinth against this heinous crime, and the few 
energetic words he addressed to them on that occa- 



196 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

sion comprehend all that may be said on the sub- 
ject. '^ Whosoever/' he says, '^ shall eat this bread 
or drink the chalice of the Lord unwortily, shall be 
guilty of the body and blood of the Lord/' And 
again : ^^He that eateth and drinketh unworthily,, 
eateth and drinketh judgment to himself." We 
will follow the Apostle^ both in the choice of argu- 
ments and the order of presenting them. W"e will 
consider, in the first place, the heinousness of the 
crime which they commit who receive Communion 
sacrilegiously, and in the second place, the terrible 
chastisement that awaits them. 

St. Paul paints this crime in the most fearful col- 
ors. ^' Whosoever,'' he says^ ^^ shall eat this bread 
or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall 
he guilty of the hody and blood of the Lord/' By 
this he evidently asserts that whoever receives the 
Blessed Eucharist unworthily is, in a Certain sense, 
guilty of the murder of our Lord. This may, at 
first sight, appear extravagant. It may seem harsh 
to class the sacrilegious communicant with the ene- 
mies of our Lord, with those wicked men who put 
him to death ; but a little reflection will show how 
closely he resembles them. While our Blessed 
Jjord was yet living on earth, He had many cruel 
enemies. There were, however, th^ee that perse- 
cuted Him with special malice. They were Herod, 
Judas, and the Jewish priests and people. In 
Herod we see cruel violence towards an innocent 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 197 

and unoffending Babe ; in Judas we see base treach- 
ery and ingratitude to a Friend and Benefactor, and 
in the Jewish, priests we behold outrage, insolence 
and contempt of the Anointed Messiah^ the true 
Son of God. Now we shall find all these crimes 
united in a sacrilegious Communion. ^^. Go/' said 
Herod to the Wise Men ; ^^ go and search dili- 
gently after the Child, and when you have found 
Him bring me word, that I also may come and 
adore Him.'' These words seem full of faith and 
reverence ; but under this outward show of rev- 
erence, Herod concealed a wicked and cruel design. 
He was determined to destroy the new-born King of 
the Jews, and when he found that he had been dis- 
appointed, he slew, in liis fury, all the children 
of Bethlehem and the neighborhood thereof. He 
did not, however, succeed in destroying the Divine 
Infant. St. Joseph, in obedience to the command 
of God, carried Him into Egypt. There he re- 
mained until the Angel of the Lord appeared again 
to St. Joseph and said : ^^ Take the Child and His 
Mother, and return to thy country, for those that 
sought the life of the Child are dead." Angel 
of God ! what dost thou say ? They are dead who 
sought the life of the Child ? Ah ! would that it 
were true ! Are not those wicked Christians who 
outrage their Saviour in the true Bethlehem, the 
house of bready that is to say, at the very foot of the 
Sacred Altar, are they not so many Herods ? They 
17* 



198 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

present themselves at the tahle of the Lord in the 
attitude of adoration ; they strike their breasts as 
if in sorrow for their sins ; they fold their hands as 
if in deep devotion, and they open those lips defiled 
by sin ; they receive the innocent Lamb of God and 
make Him a prisoner in a sinful and polluted heart. 
Mortal sin is so opposed to God that, if He could 
die, sin would destroy Him. To receive our Lord 
into a heart that is defiled by mortal sin is to bring 
Him into the power of His greatest enemy — it is to 
treat Him with even greater cruelty than Herod. 
Herod was an unbelieving Jew ; but those who re- 
ceive Him unworthily are Christians and Catholics. 
They know whom they maltreat ; Herod did not 
know Him. Our Lord does not work a miracle to 
deliver Himself out of their hands as He did to free 
Himself from the hands of Herod ; He does not 
send an Angel to inform the priest who, among the 
throng that presses to the altar, are in the state of 
mortal sin ; and even if He were to do so, the priest 
is not at liberty to make use of this knowledge, at 
least not unless the criminal should be a notorious 
sinner, so tender is Jesus of the reputation of those 
very men who are heaping outrages upon Him. 
He does not desert the consecrated species the mo- 
ment He is laid upon the tongue of the sacrilegious 
communicant. No ! true to His own Institution, 
He remains and enters unresistingly even the basest 
heart. ! what must be His feelings at such a 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 199 

moment? When Jesus was struck by that infa- 
mous servant in the judgment-hall^ in presence of 
Annas, He said : ^^ If I have spoken ill^ give testi- 
mony of the evil ; but if well, why strikest thou 
Me?'' It is thus, too, that Jesus seems to address 
the unworthy communicant : ^' What have I done," 
He says^ ^^oh Christian soul, that thou shouldst 
treat Me so cruelly ? Was it not enough that I had 
to flee from the rage of tyrants when I was on earth, 
wilt thou, too, lift up thy hand against Me? Ah ! 
from them I fled, but from thee I cannot flee. Strike, 
then, I will not avoid the blow. Strike ! it shall 
fall upon My hearty for My love has bound My 
hands. I do not resist.'' In the early ages of the 
Church, distorted accounts of the Eucharistic Sacri- 
fice having reached the ears of the heathens, they 
accused the Christians of the horrid custom of mur- 
dering, in their assemblies, an infant whom they 
adored as their God. This was a base calumny ; 
but, alas ! the accusation is but too true of those 
wicked monsters who are guilty of an unworthy 
Communion ! 

Yes, the unworthy communicant is another Herod ; 
but he is even worse, he is a second Judas, All 
men abhor Judas Iscariot ; his very name is held in 
execration. No Christian would bear the name of 
Judas. The Church seems unwilling to pronounce 
it, even when belonging to another Apostle. In 
the canon of the Mass, when the names of the twelve 



200 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

Apostles occui\ she designates the Apostle who was^ 
named Judas Tliaddeus simply as Thaddeus, omit- 
ting the title which he shared in common with the 
apostate traitor. ISTow^ whence comes this deep, 
universal detestation of Judas? What crime has 
he committed thus to make him an object of horror 
to all men ? Ah ! you know it already. Judas 
was a traitor ! He was guilty of the blackest in- 
gratitude, the basest treachery. He professed to be 
the friend of Jesus ; he had received innumerable 
benefits from Him ; he had been treated as an inti- 
mate friend, and he used the knowledge which this 
intimacy gave him to betray his Master into the 
hands of His enemies. He came into the garden 
where our Lord was praying with His disciples — he 
gave Him a kiss, the usual salutation between our 
Lord and His Apostles, and said : '^ Hail Eabbi !" 
Immediately the armed multitude he had brought 
with him seized upon our Lord, bound Him, and 
carried Him captive to the palace of the High Priest. 
How touching is the reproach which Christ then 
made to Judas : ^^ Ah Judas ! dost thou betray the 
Son of Man with a kiss?'' Our Lord seems to feel 
the circumstances of His betrayal even more than 
the betrayal itself. If it had been any one but 
Judas, who was one of the Apostles, one whom 
Jesus had chosen to be a priest and prince of His 
Church ; one whom He had admitted to His most 
unreserved intimacy ; or if it had been done in an j 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 201 

other wav ; if the wretched man had thrown off the 
mask ; if he had openly joined the Jews and Eo- 
man soldiers ; if he had come out like the rest, 
sword in hand, it would have been less bitter ; but 
to come as a friend ; to come as a cherished disciple ; 
to come with a kiss — ! this was too much. This 
was that deep and cruel pang that pierced our Sa- 
viour to the heart ! It is of this that our Lord 
complains by the mouth of the Psalmist : ^^ If my 
enemy had reviled me, I would indeed have borne 
it ; and if he that hated me had spoken grievous 
things against me, I would, perhaps, have hidden 
myself from him. But thou, a man of my own 
mind, my guide and my familiar ! In the house of 
God we walked with consent." But ! how much 
more justly may Jesus make the same complaint of 
the sacrilegious communicant ? The Holy Eucha- 
rist is a pledge of love. In Holy Communion God 
lovingly caresses the soul. When St. John reposed 
in our Lord's bosom, he did not enjoy so much fa- 
miliarity with him as does the soul that receives 
Him in Holy Communion. We call it ^^Commu- 
nion" because it is a union between the soul and 
God. How horrible, then, must it be to abuse this 
Holy Sacrament ; to receive it with a traitorous 
heart ! How painful must it be to our Lord to re- 
ceive a false caress ; to be folded in a sinful em- 
brace ; to be brought into the loathsome prison of a 
sinful heart ! loving Saviour ! how great is the 



202 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

wrong that is done to Thy love ! Well has the 
prophet predicted of Thee: ^^ The wicked have 
fought against me w^ithoufe a cause. Instead of 
making me a return for my love^ they have only 
repaid me with evil and hate. They spoke indeed 
peaceably to me, hut they devised guile. Their 
words were smoother than oil, but they are cruel 
darts.'' From the tabernacle I hear Thy outraged 
heart complain : ^^ Behold, all ye that pass by the 
Avay, come and see the wounds with which I have 
been wounded in the house of my friends ; attend 
and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sor~ 
row !'' The base treachery of Judas, however, was 
but the prelude to the many outrages that were 
heaped upon our Lord by the Jewish priests and 
people. These, too, find a parallel in an unworthy 
Communion. When David had cut off a piece of 
the mantle of Saul, his royal enemy^ his heart 
smote him because he had ^^ lifted his hand against 
the anointed of the Lord.'' Indeed, this feeling 
was quite natural, for the greatness of an injury 
depends always on the dignity of the person offended. 
Who would not feel more indignant at seeing a 
parent dishonored than at seeing a stranger ? It is 
related in the life of St. Joseph Calasanctius, that 
in his old age he was summoned before court on 
some frivolous charge. He was rudely dragged 
from the altar ; he was hurried through the public 
streets bareheaded, under a burning sun, amid the 



OUR GREATESr TREASURE. 203 

shouts and jeers of the populace. Who could have 
looked upon the serene face of that hoary-headed 
old man^ as he was thus ignominiously dragged 
along, without being moved to tears ? How horri- 
ble a crime would it be in the eyes of the Catholic 
world to kill a bishop at the altar, or the Pope upon 
his throne ! Justice would require that such a crim- 
inal should be punished with much greater severity 
than an ordinary murderer. How grievous, then, 
must have been the crime of those who persecuted 
our Lord Himself. Let us read the simple words 
of Holy Scripture : ' ' He was despised and the most 
abject of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted 
with infirmity ; He was led as a sheep to the slaugh- 
ter ; He was mute as a lamb before His shearers, 
and He opened not His mouth ; He gave His cheek 
to the striker, and He was filled with reproaches ; 
He was made a derision to the people and their song 
all the day long ; He was cut off" from the land of the 
living. We feel the deep meaning of those words 
only when we ask, as did the Eunuch of St. Philip : 
^^ Of whom doth the prophet speak?'' That face, 
bruised with blows and defiled with spittle, is the 
face of God — that face which is the everlasting 
brightness of heaven ; those hands, transfixed with 
nails, are the hands of the Almighty, Who, in His 
wisdom, laid the foundations of the universe ; He 
who hangs between two malefactors on the accursed 
tree is the Immaculate Lamb of God, the Eternal 



204 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

Son of the Father. '^Ah !'' you exclaim, ^^here 
human wickedness has reached its height !'' Can 
there be a greater proof of God's patience than His 
forbearance at the perpetration of a crime like this? 
Yes, I will assert J that almost every instance of un- 
worthy Communion is even a strong proof of God's 
patient endurance. In some respects, the dishonor 
which is shown our Lord in an unworthy Commu- 
nion is far greater than that which was shown Him 
at His death. Then, indeed, He died a death of 
shame ; but it was for the salvation of the world. 
He offered His soul because He tvilled it. He was 
satisfied, because He saw the abundant fruit of His 
labors. But when He is received unworthily in 
Holy Communion, He is crucified anew, without any 
compensation, and against His will. He is brought 
as a prisoner into the horrid and filthy dungeon of 
a sinful heart. He is chained there to j)assions 
which He loathes ; He is forced to become, as it 
were, one with the sinner. Can anything be con- 
ceived more horrible than this ? Would it not be 
far better that the sacred host should be thrown 
upon a dunghill ; that it should be devoured by an 
unclean beast than that it should be received into a 
heart defiled with mortal sin ? Most certainly ; for 
in that case our Lord would suffer no real dishonor. 
He fills all things, and is essentially everywhere. 
He cannot be sullied except in the heart of the sinner, 
where He is brought into contact with that whiclx 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 205 

alone i^ hateful to Him — sin. It is related in the 
annals of the Society of Jesus, that a young man 
who, through shame, had concealed a mortal sin 
in confession, had the rashness to receive Holy 
Communion ; but, on attempting to swallow the 
host, he was seized with such excruciating pains 
that he was compelled to rush out of the church 
and to cast forth the sacred particle into the filth of 
the street. After this he felt instantly relieved. 
Our Lord gave him thereby to understand that the 
very filth of the street was more acceptable to Him 
than a heart that is defiled by sin. 

Should any amongst us be still unmoved, still 
callous, grant, Lord^ that we may at least be 
touched by Thy chastisements ! The impious Abi- 
ron placed his sacrilegious hand upon the censer, 
and immediately the earth opened and swallowed 
him up. The neglectful sons of the high priest 
Aaron filled their censers with unhallowed fire, 
and, in an instant, fire from heaven killed them. 
Ophni and Phinees profaned the sacrifice off'ered to 
the Lord, and shortly after they fell under the 
sword of the enemy. Thus did God punish the 
disobedience of Israel. How will He, then, punish 
him who attacks His own Divine Person, in Whose 
name altars are erected and sacrifices offered ? How 
will He punish him who is guilty of the Body and 
Blood of Jesus Christ? It does not admit of a 
doubt that severer punishment awaits one who tram- 
18 



206 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

j)les upon the Son of God, profanes the Blood of the 
Covenant, and insults the Spirit of Grace. 

The Bethsamites cast a curious glance at the Ark 
of the Covenant, and immediately the ground was 
strewn with their dead bodies. Balthasar laid his 
profane hands upon the sacred vessels, and there 
suddenly appeared upon the opposite wall the fin- 
gers of a man's hand, tracing a few words, in which 
the sacrilegious monarch read his own sentence of 
death. Antiochus plundered the Temple of Jeru- 
salem, and the avenging hand of God stretched him 
upon a bed of agonizing pain, where he died of a 
loathsome disease. Such were the chastisements of 
the Almighty in the Old Law. What, then, will 
be the punishment of him who dishonors, not the 
Ark of the Covenant, but the Body of Jesus ; who 
not merely raises to his polluted lips the holy ves- 
sels, but receives into his sinful heart the thrice 
Holy God Himself ; who draws the Lord of Hosts 
from His sanctuary to place Him side by side with 
Satan in his heart ; who becomes guilty of the Body 
and Blood of Jesus Christ ! What punishment is 
there for such a one? Listen once more to the 
words of St. Paul and tremble ! ^^ He who eats of 
this bread and drinks of this chalice unworthily, 
eats and drinks judgment to himself!'' What an 
expression ! Eats and drinks judgment to himself ! 
His own condemnation ! That is to say, his con- 
demnation penetrates his innermost being. It in- 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 207 

corporates itself with him ; it flows in his veins ; it 
becomes one flesh, one blood, one being with him. 
frightful punishment ! He eats and drinks his 
own judgment ! What kind of judgment does he 
eat and drink ? A sentence of eternal damnation ; 
a sentence of never-ending misfortune ; a sentence 
sealed wath the Blood of Christ Himself ; a sentence 
which is often carried into execution even in this 
world! ^^ You see/' continues St. Paul, ^^your 
houses daily falling into ruin ; you behold the daily 
ravages of war and pestilence ; you see how unex- 
pectedly death everywhere seizes upon its victims ; 
you see how many among you are dragging along 
weak bodies, never enjoying an hour's health. 
Why, think you, do these troubles press upon you? 
Because many among you partake unworthily of the 
Body and Blood of Christ. The miserable end of 
King Lothaire and his vassals is but too evident an 
illustration of this. Lothaire, king of Loiraine, 
conceived a great dislike to his lawful queen. His 
eyes fell upon a beautiful young maid of honor of 
his court, named Waldrada, and his heart followed 
his eyes. The Pope was informed of this scandal, 
and he commanded Lothaire to quit his paramour 
and to take back his lawful wife. He threatened to 
excommunicate the wicked king in case of refusal. 
Lothaire made a thousand false promises ; he even 
went to Eome in order to be absolved from the ban 
he had incurred. He requested the Pope to recon- 



208 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

cile him solemnly during Mass, and he wished to 
receive Holy Communion from the hands of the 
Pope himself. The Pope took the most prudent 
measures to find out the sincerity of the king's in- 
tentions, but all to no purpose. He then celebrated 
Mass. The king, with many of the nobles of his 
court, was present. The time of Communion came, 
and the king, with his nobles, went to the altar-rail 
to receive. The Pope then turned to the monarch, 
and holding the sacred host in his hand, said, in a 
loud and distinct voice : ^^0 king, if you are sin- 
cerely resolved to quit Waldrada and to take back 
your lawful wife, then receive this Holy Sacrament 
unto life everlasting ; but if you are not sincerely 
resolved, then do not dare to profane the sacred 
Body of Jesus Christ, and eat your own damna- 
tion." Lothaire turned pale and trembled, but he 
had already made a sacrilegious confession, and now 
he sealed his doom by adding a sacrilegious Com- 
munion. The Pope turned then to the noblemen^ 
who were kneeling beside their king, and said to 
them : ^ ^ If you have taken no part in the crime of 
your king, then may the Body of our Lord Jesus 
Christ be to you a pledge of eternal salvation." 
Some of the noblemen were terrified and left the 
altar-rail without receiving, but the greater part of 
them followed the example of their king. They 
had committed a fearful crime, and the punishment 
of God was swift and terrible. The king and his 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 209 

suite quitted Rome. They had no sooner arrived at 
the city of Lucca than they were attacked by a most 
malignant fever^ in consequence of which they lost 
their speech ; they were tormented by an inward 
fire^ and their nails^ hair and skin fell off^ whilst, 
on the other hand, the lives of those of the king's 
suite who had left the Communion-rail before re- 
ceiving, were spared, so that the vengeance of hea- 
ven was quite evident. 

Again, he eats and drinks judgment to himself! 
What kind of judgment does he eat and drink ? A 
sentence involving darkness of the understanding 
and hardness of heart, to a most frightful degree, 
possession of the devil, despair, an impenitent death 
and everlasting malediction. These punishments 
are, in a particular manner, indicated by the words 
of St. Paul : '^ He eateth and drinketh judgment to 
himself." Nothing makes any impression upon 
him ; he is no longer edified at praiseworthy ac- 
tions ; he scoffs at those who practise virtue ; all 
admonition is lost on him ; he does not understand 
the heinousness of his sin. What is here said of 
an unworthy Communion he does not believe ; he is 
perfectly indifi'erent to the affair of his salvation ; 
his thoughts no longer rise above the narrow and 
impure circle of earthly interests ; he is like a worm 
which, day and night, sucks in nourishment from 
the earth, its native element, groveling all the while 
in the mire ; he cares little for spiritual things y 
18* 



210 THE BLESSED EUCHAIIIST 

eternal punishment has no terror for him. In such 
a condition, what is there that he would shrink 
from undertaking ? We might, indeed, say to this 
wretch when he is leaving the sacred table, what 
Jesus said to His betrayer : '^ What thou wilt do, 
do quickly ; go now and accomplish thy criminal 
designs ; let loose thy passions, for, since thou hast 
dared to dishonor the Body of Christ, nothing will 
appear horrible or abominable to thee, nothing will 
be able henceforth to restrain thee. Unhappy 
wretch ! hitherto thou hast been preserved from 
certain abominations by an innate feeling of hor- 
ror ; but now, go bravely forward, wallow in sin, 
for thy conscience has no longer a reproach for thee ! 
Go on in the road to Sodom and Gomorrah ! Give 
thyself up to the base desires of thy heart !" 

No, nothing makes an impression upon such a 
heart. I here speak of what usually happens. 
Our Lord might, indeed, mournfully exclaim in 
his presence : ^^ Verily, verily, one of you is about 
to betray me!'' It would affect him but little. 
Should he even hear from Jesus' own lips the ter- 
rible words : ^^ Wo to him by whom the Son of Man 
will be betrayed," he would remain cold and un- 
moved. In vain would Jesus call such a sinner 
^friend/ and give him the kiss of peace ! In vain 
would He work miracles before him ! His eyes 
would remain closed ; or, if they opened, it would 
be only to cast him into despair ; to urge him, like 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 211 

JiiclaSj to execute the sentence of his damnation ; 
in a word, the spirit of darkness, Satan^ has taken 
complete possession of him. Is not Judas a most 
terrible example of this ? He received unworthily, 
immediately the devil entered into him ! St. Cy- 
prian tells us of a certain young woman who, after 
an unworthy Communion, was instantly possessed 
by the devil. She became quite furious, and in her 
rage bit her tongue to pieces, and endeavored to kill 
herself. At last she died in horrible agony. Be- 
hold the judgment of God ! But what is even 
worse than all, this sin dries up the fountain of 
hope in the breast, and plunges the unhappy sinner 
into despair. Judas is but too sad an illustration 
of this, also. After his sacrilege, ^^ he luent out and 
hanged himself.'' The following example was wit- 
nessed by a priest of my acquaintance. He was 
called to the death-bed of a young man. No sooner 
had the dying youth perceived the Blessed Sacra- 
ment, than he exclaimed : '^ Behold Him Whom I 
received unworthily at my first Communion !'' and 
turning his face towards the wall^ he expired. Here, 
then, you see again a verification of the Divine Jus- 
tice, which is the most terrible of all that could be 
inflicted in this life ! I say in this life, for, in the 
life to come, there is another scourge still more 
dreadful, namely, that remorse which will fill the 
soul of the sacrilegious communicant for all eternity. 
Here, however, description is baffled. Words are 



212 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

inadequate to express or describe it. The story of 
the wanderer mentioned in the ^'Spiritual Mea- 
dows/' furnishes but a feeble illustration of it. 
There was a certain convent of most austere dis- 
cipline, presided over by an abbot of strict and holy 
life. One day a stranger came to this convent ask- 
ing admission. He was received and lived there for 
nine years in the practice of the most rigorous pen- 
ance. At the end of that time, he came to the 
abbot and told him, that an infant, whom he had 
slain when he followed the life of a highwayman, 
had appeared to him and said in the most heart- 
rending tone of voice : ^^ Why didst thou kill me?'' 
The abbot treated the poor man as if he were the 
victim of a diseased imagination, and bade him go 
work in the garden. He did so, but the voice still 
rang in his ears : '^ Why didst thou kill me?" He 
went to the church to pray, but the voice followed 
him thither. At last, no longer able to endure his 
sufferings, he threw off the religious habit, went to 
the civil magistrate, confessed his crime, and begged 
to be condemned to death. His request was granted 
and he was executed. ! if remorse can inflict so 
terrible a sting in this- life, what will it be to hear 
the eternal cry of conscience in the caverns of hell ; 
the eternal malediction of Jesus Christ against those 
who have outraged Him in the Most Holy Sacra- 
ment ! 

Such, then, is the life and death of the sacrilegious 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 213 

communicant. Such, is the vengeance of God. Hav- 
ing committed deicide, he must be punished as such. 
YeSj the Bread of Life becomes in his mouth the 
bread of malediction for body and soul, for time and 
eternity, unless he has recourse to the Mother of 
God, that by her powerful intercession, she may 
prevail upon the heart of her Divine Son to forgive 
the crime with its punishment, and obtain for the 
unworthy communicant courage to confess his sin, 
and the gift of tears to weep over it, in order that 
thus, through the merits of the same Blood which 
condemned him, he may receive again by the sacra- 
mental absolution the grace of justification. 



CHAPTER XI, 

ON SPIRITUAL COMMUNION. 



WHEN a soul has once begun to practise fre- 
quent Communion she can no longer live 
without it. Even if she were to communicate every 
day, it would seem too little. She would desire, if 
possible, to receive our Lord every moment. It is 



214 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

the Blessed Sacrament itself which produces this 
eflfect, for such is the sweetness of that Divine Food, 
that they that eat it still hunger, and they that 
drink it thirst again. It is our Lord Himself Who 
excites this desire in the hearts of the faithful, and 
He also has provided a means of satisfying it. 
While He was yet on earth He not only imparted 
many graces to those who were near Him, but He 
also wrought many miracles in behalf of those who 
were at a distance. In like manner, He now not 
only bestows many graces upon us when He actually 
enters our hearts in Holy Communion, but He also 
imparts many to us by means of Spiritual Commu- 
nion. St. Catherine of Sienna, whilst on one occa- 
sion assisting at the Mass of her Confessor, St. Eay- 
mund, felt the most ardent desire to be united to 
Jesus Christ ; but as she had been forbidden to 
communicate, she did not dare to receive. Our 
Lord_, however, was so moved by the fervor of her 
love, that He worked a miracle in her favor. , At 
that part of the Mass in which the priest breaks the 
Sacred Host into three pieces, the smallest portion 
disappeared from the Altar, flew through the air 
and rested upon the tongue of St. Catherine. St» 
Kaymund was much disturbed at the disappearance 
of the particle, but the Saint relieved his anxiety 
by telling him that our Lord Himself had been 
pleased to communicate her, in reward for her great 
desire for holy Communion. He displays a similar 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 215 

love towards every one who has a true desire to be 
united to Him. As soon as a soul ardently desires 
to receive our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, He 
comes to satisfy her desire, not, indeed, as He did 
to St. Catherine, under the Sacramental species, but 
by the way of Spiritual Communion, This devotion 
is so full of grace and consolation, that it is of the 
greatest importance that every one should know how 
to practise it. I will, therefore, say a word in ex- 
planation of it. 

Spiritual Communion^ according to St. Thomas, 
consists in an ardent desire to receive our Lord Jesus 
Christ in the Most Holy Sacrament. It is performed 
by making an act of faith in the presence of Jesus 
Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, and then an act of 
love, and an act of contrition for having offended 
Him. The soul then invites Him to come and unite 
Himself to her and make her entirely His own ; and 
lastly, she thanks Him, as if she had really received 
Him sacramentally. The Spiritual Communion may 
be made in the following manner : ^^0 my Jesus, I 
firmly believe that Thou art truly and really present 
in the Most Holy Sacrament. I love Thee with my 
whole heart, and because I love Thee, I am sorry 
for having offended Thee. I long to possess Thee 
within my soul; but as I cannot now receive Thee 
sacramentally, come at least in spirit into my heart. 
I unite myself to Thee as if Thou wert already 
there ; never let me be separated from Thee." The 



216 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

graces which are bestowed in this way are so great 
that they may be likened to those which are im- 
parted by an actual reception of the Sacrament. 

One day our Lord Himself told St. Jane of the 
Cross, that as often as she communicated spiritu- 
ally, she received a grace similar to that which she 
received from her Sacramental Communions. He 
also appeared to Sister Paula Maresca, foundress of 
the Convent of St. Catherine of Sienna at Naples, 
with two vessels, one of gold and the other of sil- 
ver, and told her that in the golden vessel He pre- 
served her Sacramental Communions, and in the 
silver vessel her spiritual Communions. The Fathers 
of the Church go so far as to say, that one who has 
a very great desire for Communion, accompanied 
with great reverence and humility, may sometimes 
receive even more graces than another who, without 
these dispositions, should actually receive our Lord 
in the Sacramental species ; for^ as the Psalmist 
says : '^ The Lord hears the desire of the poor, and 
fills their hearts with good things." The advan- 
tages of this mode of Communion are very great. 
To practise it you will not need to go to church, or 
make a long preparation, or remain fasting ; you 
will not need to ask the permission of your confes- 
sor, or to seek a priest to give it to you as in Holy 
Communion. Hence the venerable Jane of the 
Cross used to say : '^0 my Lord, what an excellent 
mode of receiving without being seen or remarked ;, 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 217 

without giving trouble to my spiritual Father^ or 
depending on any one but Thee, Who, in solitude, 
dost nourish my soul and speak to my heart/' 

But the chief advantage of Spiritual Communion 
is, that it may be so often repeated. You can re- 
ceive Sacramental Communion, at most, but once a 
day, but Spiritual Communion you may receive as 
often as you please. St. Alphonsus advises one 
who wishes to lead a devout life to make Spiritual 
Communions at his meditations, at his visits to the 
Blessed Sacrament, and whenever he hears Mass. 
But especially he should endeavor to multiply them 
on the eve of his Communions, because, as Father 
Faber of the Society of Jesus remarks, they are 
most powerful means to attain the dispositions ne- 
cessary for a good Communion. The saints were 
much addicted to this devotion. 

The Blessed Angela of the Cross, a Dominican 
nun, was accustomed to make a hundred Spiritual 
Communions every day, and a hundred more every 
night, and she used to say : ' ^ If my confessor had 
not taught me this method of communicating, I 
conld scarcely live.'' If you ask how she could 
make so many, I answer with St. Augustine : '^ Give 
me a lover ^ and he will understand ; give me a soul 
that loves nothing but Jesus Christ, and she will 
know how to do it." 



19 



218 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 



CHAPTEE XII. 

CONSIDERATIONS OX THE VIRTUES THAT JESUS CHRIST 
TEACHES US IN THE MOST HOLY SACRA- 
MENT OF THE ALTAR. 



AZTJERJED FR03I CRASS ET. 



I. — Poverty. 



JESUS, in the Most Holy Sacrament of the altar, 
is a Master Who teaches us every virtue. On 
earth He led a life of poverty. On the altar, too, 
we behold Hirn stripped of everything. It is the 
same to Him whether He be in a city or in a village ; 
and He dwells as cheerfully in a ciborium of copper 
as in one of gold or of silver. In heaven He has a 
royal retinue, but on earth, who keeps Him com- 
pany? '^1 am a man," He says, ^^ Who sees His 
poverty." We, too, see the poverty of Jesus ; but 
oh ! how slow are we to imitate it ! Our affections 
are fixed on fine dwellings, good food, good cloth- 
ing, good attendance ! We dislike to feel the want 
of anything, or to suffer the slightest inconvenience. 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 219 

just as though the Son of God had said : '' Blessed 
are the rich, but' not the poor; blessed are. those 
that laugh, but not those that weep/' 

II. — Humility. 

An humble soul debases herself before God, and 
acknowledges her absolute dependence upon Him. 
Mean and despicable in her own eyes, she accepts 
humiliations and contempt with cheerfulness. She 
is obedient to every one, and regards herself as the 
lowest, the vilest of creatures. She carefullv con- 
ceals the graces with which God enriches her ; she 
always seeks the last place, and flies the praises of 
men, content to be praised by God alone. In the 
Most Holy Sacrament, Jesus off'ers Himself to honor 
His heavenly Father. Concealing His Divinity and 
Humanity under the appearances of bread and wine, 
He assumes a condition far more humiliating than 
that to which He reduced Himself, in the crib, on 
the cross, or in the grave. Nay, He exposes Him- 
self to the contempt, to the insults of idolaters, 
heretics and bad Catholics. And what is worse, 
He even submits to the horrible outrage of sacrile- 
gious Communion. ^^In truth. Thou art a hidden 
God, my God and my Lord V Thou art an humble 
God, and I am a proud creature ! Thou fleest honors, 
and I seek them ! Thou seekest humiliations, and I 
fly them ! 



220 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 



/ 



III. — Patience. 

The body of the Son of God, under the sacra- 
mental veilSj is, indeed, incapable of suffering, yet 
the love for sufferings which ever consumed the. 
heart of Jesus, is in nowise diminished. It was to 
leave us an eternal memorial of His passion that 
our Lord instituted this divine Sacrament. He 
commemorates His sufferings, and He is desirous 
that we, too, should preserve the recollection of 
them. But though His Sacred Body is now in- 
capable of suffering, His divine Person is still sen- 
sible to every insult that is oflfered to Him ! Oh ! 
who can enumerate the outrages heaped upon Jesus 
in this Sacrament of His love ? Consider the affronts 
He daily receives from atheists, heretics, supersti- 
tious persons^ and particularly from bad Catholics. 
Think of the crimes, the sins of irreverence that 
are committed in His churches, in His own Divine 
Presence ! Think of all the bad and sacrilegious 
Communions that are made ! Jesus ! What 
admirable lessons of patience dost Thou not daily 
give us in this Divine Sacrament ! But, alas ! I 
profit so little by them ! I am so passionate, so im- 
patient ! I am unwilling to suffer anything from 
God or man. I cannot bear anything from my 
superiors, equals or inferiors. I am a burden to 
myself, and yet I wish that every one should bear 
with me. How unreasonable ! 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 221 



IV. — Obedience. 



It was in obedience to His heavenly Father, that 
the Son of God became man — it was in obedience 
that His Blessed Mother conceived Him. He was 
born while obeying an earthly emperor. He lived 
under obedience to His parents, and died out of 
obedience to His heavenly Father, and to His unjust 
judges. Although He now reigns in heaven, yet 
He is ever ready to obey man. He obeys all His 
priests, the bad as Avell as the good. He obeys at 
all hours, by day and by night. He obeys in- 
stantly. No sooner are the words of consecration 
pronounced by the priest, than Jesus is instantly 
present. He obeys in all places wherever the Holy 
Sacrifice of the Mass is offered, whether it be on 
land or at sea, in a village or in a city, in a stately 
church or in an humble chapel. He submits to 
every sort of treatment. He suffers Himself to be 
preserved, to be consumed, to be given to all kinds 
of persons. He obeys without resistance, without 
complaint, without showing^the least unwillingness. 
Christian soul! dost thou obey in this manner? 
Dost thou obey all thy superiors without exception ? 
Dost thou obey blindly? Dost thou obey at all 
times, in all things^ always showing that thou art 
an humble servant of the Lord, ready to follow the 
commands of thy superiors? 
19* 



222 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 



V . — Mortification . 

The whole life of Jesus was one of continual 
mortification. He is now forever happy in heaven ; 
nevertheless^ He has found a means to teach us by 
His own example, even to the end of the world, how 
to mortify our senses, our will, and our judgment. 
He mortifies His judgment by suff'ering Himself to 
be disposed of, according to the good pleasure of 
His priests, to be carried whithersoever they will — 
to be used for good or bad purposes, just as if He 
were entirely blind and helpless. He mortifies His 
will in bearing the numberless indignities that are 
offered to His Holiness, to His Majesty and to His 
other divine Perfections. He mortifies His senses 
by remaining present in the Sacred Host as if He 
were dead. He mortifies His tongue by keeping 
continually a profound silence. He mortifies His 
whole body uniting Himself to mere lifeless appear- 
ances, and remaining day and night in the taber- 
nacle as in a prison of love. my soul ! addicted 
as thou art to sensual pleasures, what union can 
there be between thee and the mortified and cruci- 
fied body of Jesus Christ ? The holy Sacrament 
continually reminds thee of His passion, and thou 
boldest suffering in horror ! His life under the 
sacramental veils is entirely spiritual, and thine is 
entirely sensual ! 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 223 



VI. — Love of God 



Jesus teaches us also in this Sacrament, how we 
ought to love God. If we love God truly we will 
perform His will in all things ; we will keep His 
commandments^ we will suffer much for Him, and 
sacrifice ourselves to His honor. This is what 
Jesus teaches us on our altars. He sacrifices Him- 
self daily, nay, hourly, for the honor of His Father 
and for the good of men. He has thus found out a 
means to renew His death in a mystical manner, at 
all times and in all places. All men should offer 
themselves to God, in order to acknowledge their 
dependence upon Him ; to thank Him for His num- 
berless benefits, to ask new blessings from Him, and 
to atone for their sins. Jesus Christ, as the head of 
the human race, has taken upon Himself this obli- 
gation^ and daily offers Himself to pay homage to 
God for all men, to give thanks to God for all the 
graces they have received from Him, to make satis- 
faction to His Justice so often offended by their 
grievous crimes, and to obtain for them all the 
graces necessary for soul and body. wretch that 
I am ! A God takes upon Himself my sins. He 
lays down His life to deliver me from death, and He 
bears for love of me a thousand insults, and I in re- 
turn despise and offend Him, I only provoke His 
anger more and more : I am unwilling to suffer the 



224 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

least thing for Him, and thus I render His passion 
and death fruitless to me. What ingratitude I 
What hardness of heart ! AVhat cruelty and in- 
justice ! 

VII. — Love of our Neighbor. 

One of the objects of the Incarnation was to re~ 
unite men in the bonds of charity which had been 
severed by sin. Jesus Christ made this charity an 
express commandment. He calls it His only com- 
mandment. He declares that it is the true mark 
of His religion. To preserve this charity He 
has left us His Body and His Blood under the 
appearances of bread and wine, in order that, par- 
taking of one breads we may also be one body and 
one soul. And the more to ensure the practice of 
charity among men, He has made our natural desire 
for happiness the motive for loving one another. 
He has commanded us to partake of His Body and 
Blood under pain of eternal damnation ; and the 
indispensable condition to our receiving this hea- 
venly food is charity. But not content with all 
thiSj He continually gives us in the Blessed Sacra- 
ment most persuasive lessons of charity. While 
other shepherds clothe themselves with the wool of 
their flocks, and feed on their flesh, Jesus Christy 
the Good Shepherd, strips Himself in order ta 
clothe us ; He even gives us His Flesh and Blood 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 225 

for our food ; and when a devout soul, transported 
at a favor so divine, asks how she may repay so 
great a benefit. He replies : ^^ Do good to your fel- 
low-men, and I Avill hold you discharged of all your 
debts to Me. Whatsoever you do to them I will count 
it as done to Me/' ^^Does it seem hard to you,'' 
He says, ^^ to love your neighbor ? Consider, then, 
how I have loved you. Does it seem hard to you to 
give and to forgive ? Then think whether you are 
ever required to give anything as precious as the 
food which I give to you. Think whether you have 
ever to suffer as many affronts as I have suffered for 
your sake in this Sacrament of love ! Is the disci- 
ple greater than his master, or the servant above 
his lord? Go, then, and do to others what I have 
done to you." Jesus! Thou hast conquered. 
We give our hearts to Thee that Thou mayst make 
them humble and gentle. Thou, the Well-Be- 
loved of the Father, Who comest on earth and 
dwelleth in our tabernacles, in order to impart to 
men Thy Divine Spirit of Charity, take from us all 
selfishness and hardness of heart, and teach us how 
to love one another. 



226 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE MOST HOLY FESTIVAL OF CORPUS CIJRISTI AND ITS 

ORIGIN. 

MANY a century had passed over the Church of 
Christ before there was any distinct feast of 
the Blessed Sacrament, and when, in the thirteenth 
century, our Lord chose that it should be instituted, 
He had recourse to a holy nun, in a vision, to be the 
instrument of this devotion in His Church. St. 
Thomas was living then, and so was St. Louis ; but 
God chose neither the learning of the one nor the 
royal power of the other to be the means of exe- 
cuting His desire. From the age of sixteen, for 
many years, a vision perpetually haunted a young 
Belgian nun, Juliana of Eetinne, whenever she 
knelt in prayer. A brilliant moon continually ap- 
peared before her, with one small portion obscured 
and invisible. She tried in vain to chase the vision 
away ; at last our Lord Himself came to explain it 
to her. He said it was to show that the ritual year 
of the Church would remain incomplete until the 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 227 

Blessed Sacrament had a feast of its own, and He 
wished it to be instituted for the following reasons : 

1st. In order that the Catholic doctrine might re- 
ceive aid from the institution of this festival, at a 
time when the faith of the world was growing cold 
and heresies were rife. 

2dly. That the faithful, w^ho love and seek truth 
and piety, may be enabled to draw from this source 
of life new strength and vigor to walk continually 
in the way of virtue. 

3rdly. That irreverence and sacrilegious beha- 
vior towards the Divine Majesty in this adorable 
Sacrament may, by sincere and profound adoration, 
be extirpated and repaired. 

Lastly. He bade her announce to the Christian 
w^orld His will that this feast should be observed. 

Tremblingly the maiden received the command, 
and heartily did she pray to be released from the 
charge. Our Lord answered her, that the solemn 
devotion which He ordered to be observed, w'as to 
be begun by her, and to be propagated by the poor 
and lowly. Tw^enty long years had passed away 
and the secret still lay hidden in Juliana's breast ; 
she dared not reveal it to any one, and yet an inte- 
rior impulse urged her on. So terrible was her re- 
pugnance that she shed tears of blood over it. At 
length she imparted it to her confessor, and, with 
her leave, he consulted others, especially James de 
Threzis, Archdeacon at the Cathedral of Liege. 



228 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

This priest was afterwards, for his piety and learn- 
ing, elected Bishop of Verdun, t^en Patriarcli of 
Jerusalem, and at last Pope of Rome, called Urban 
IV. From that time it became a public question,. 
and sorely were men divided upon it. Canons and 
monks protested against the new devotion, and 
urged that the daily sacrifice was sufficient to com- 
memorate the love of Jesus in the Blessed Sacra- 
ment without a special day being particularly 
assigned for that purpose. But the faithful nun 
prayed on ; civil discord raged around her ; the city 
where she lived was lost and won, sacked by a laAv- 
less army, and retaken ; three successive convents 
Avere either burned or otherwise destroyed over her 
head, yet no earthly troubles could make her forget 
the task which her Lord had assigned her. She 
died before it was accomplished, yet she had done 
enough in her lifetime to provide for its execution. 
In her wanderings, she had met with a few men 
with devotion to feel and learning to defend the 
feast of the Blessed Sacrament. When she was in 
her grave, the Sovereign Pontiff, Urban IV., wrote 
to inform one of her companions that he himself 
had celebrated the feast, with the Cardinals, in the 
holy city. The triumph of the Blessed Sacrament 
was complete ; St. Thomas Aquinas composed its 
office ; the devotion spread through the length and 
breadth of Europe. From that time to this every 
church in a Catholic country, from the Cathedral of 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 229 

a royal city to the village chapel^ keeps tlie festival. 
The procession issues into the streets followed by 
the authorities of the realm ; it is the public recog- 
nition^ by the Catholic world, of Jesus in the 
Blessed Sacrament. The prophetic eye of our Lord 
saw in the futurity this very doctrine attacked and 
the faith in sore danger. In the full career of the 
victory of His Church, in the zenith of its medieval 
splendor, He foresaw our times. Surely no omen 
was ever better fulfilled than that which promised the 
Church good service, by the institution of the feast 
of Corpus Christi. In France it has survived every 
revolution ; its re-establishment has ever been the 
measure of the Church's power, and the proof of 
her return. It is the dove with the olive-brancli 
which proclaims the passing away of the mighty 
deluge. The memory of the procession in which, 
when a child, he scattered flowers before the Blessed 
Sacrament, as it passed through the streets, is a 
hold on the very libertine, and the pledge of his 
final conversion. The civil and military pomp dis- 
played is a proof that the country is still Catholic, 
and the very infidel comjoelled to pass the Blessed 
Sacrament head uncovered, or to remain within his 
house, bears witness to the fact that public opin- 
ion is Christian, and to the triumph of the Blessed 
Sacrament. (John Bern Dalgairns, priest of the 
Orat. of St. Philip Neri.) 

I believe, dear reader, that for your edification. 
20 



230 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

and instruction, concerning the Most Holy Feast of 
our divine Eedeemer's Sacred Body, I can place no- 
thing better before you than the Brief of Urban IV., 
which runs thus : 

^^ Urban, Bishop, 

Servant of the Servants of God^ to our Venerable 
Brethren, the Patriarchs, Archbishops, and other 
Prelates of the Church : 

^^When our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, ere 
He left the world and returned to His Father, 
ate, on the eve of His passion, the Last Supper with 
His disciples. He instituted the Most Holy and pre- 
cious Sacrament of His Body and Blood, in which 
He gave us the fornjer for our food and the latter for 
our drink ; /^ for as often as we eat of this bread and 
drink of this chalice, we show the death of our 
Lord." At the institution of this mystery, He said 
to His Apostles: ^^Do this in commemoration of 
Me'' — giving them to understand that the great 
and adorable Sacrament, which He then instituted, 
was the greatest and most excellent remembrance of 
His infinite love towards us ; an admirable, agree- 
able, sweet, secure, and supremely excellent remem- 
brance, in which all the benefits of God are renewed, 
above all comprehension, in which we can find every 
pleasure, every sweetness and the most secure pledge 
of eternal life. It is the sweetest, holiest and most 
salutary remembrance, which recalls to our mind 



OUR GREATESr TREASURE. 231 

the great grace of our Redemption, which keeps us 
from evil and strengthens us in good, which pro- 
motes our advancement . in virtue and grace, our 
divine Saviour producing in us all these effects by 
His real presence. The other mysteries which the 
Church reveres, we adore in spirit and in truth, but 
in none of them do we enjoy the real presence 
thereof. It is only in the commemoration of the 
Last Supper that Jesus Christ is truly present and 
truly with us. When He ascended into heaven, He 
said to His apostles and disciples : '^ Behold I will 
be with you until the end of the world.'' He said 
this in order to console them for His absence, and 
to assure them that He would always remain even 
corporally in their midst. worthy and ever 
adorable remembrance, which reminds us that death 
has lost its sting, and that we are saved from ruin, 
since the living Body of the Lord, which was raised 
upon the wood-of the Cross, has restored life to us. 
It is a ijdost glorious remembrance, which fills the 
faithful with salutary joy, and causes them, in the 
effusion of their joy, to weep tears of thanksgiving. 
We exult at the remembrance of our Eedemption, 
and_, because it reminds us of the death of Jesus, 
Who purchased us, we, cannot restrain our tears. 
Over this mystery, which prepares joy for us and 
elicits our tears, we rejoice weepingly and weep 
joyfully, because our hearts are entranced with joy 
at the remembrance of so great a benefit, and, in 



232 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

the sense of the most just gratitude which we owe 
it, we cannot refrain from tears. infinite, divine 
love ! exceedingly great condescension of our 
God ! astounding miracle of His liberality ! 
Not enough to make us masters of the goods of this 
world, He even places all creatures at our command. 
This was not even enough for His goodness tons. 
He raised man to so great a dignity, as to give him 
Angels to guard him, and celestial spirits to serve 
him, and to guide the elect to the possession of the 
inheritance which is prepared for them in heaven. 
After so many brilliant proofs of his munificence, 
He has given us a still greater pledge of His un- 
speakable charity, by bestowing Himself on us. 
Exceeding the very fulness of His gifts, and the 
very measure of His love. He off'ers Himself for our 
food and drink. sublime and admirable liber- 
ality^ in which the Giver is the Gift, and the Gift is 
the very one Who gives ! unexampled liberality, 
by which He gives Himself! Our God has given 
Himself to be our food, because man, condemned to 
death, as he is, can be restored to life by this means 
only. By eating the forbidden fruit he incurred 
death, and by partaking of the tree of life^ he has 
been redeemed. In the former was the sting of 
death, in the latter the food of life. By eating the 
former he inflicted a wound upon himself, by eating 
of the latter he recovered health. Thus the par- 
taking of the one food wounded him, the partaking 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 233 

of the other healed him. Wound and cure proceed 
from the same source^ and what entailed death upon 
us, has restored us to life. Of the former it is said : 
^' On the day on which you shall eat thereof, you 
shall die the death ;'' and of the latter, " He that 
eats of this bread shall live for ever.'' substan- 
tial food, which perfectly satisfies and truly nour- 
ishes^ not the body, but the heart ; not the fleshy 
but the soul ! Our compassionate Eedeemer, Who 
knew that man needed spiritual nourishment, has, 
in this institution of charity and mercy, prepared 
for his soul the most precious and most nourishing 
food that His wisdom could devise. Neither could 
any Avork have been better befitting the Divine 
liberality and charity, than that the Eternal Word 
of God, Who is the real food, and the real repast of 
the reasonable creature, should, after He was made 
flesh, give Himself to flesh and blood, that is to 
say, to man, for his nourishment. Man has eaten 
the bread of Angels, and, therefore, our Lord said : 
^^My flesh is meat indeed!" This divine bread is 
eaten, but it is not changed, because it assumes no 
other form in him who eats It. It transforms the 
worthy receiver into Him Whom it contains. 
most excellent, most adorable, and most venerable 
Sacrament, to which we can never give adequate 
praise, honor and glory, and whose benefits we can 
never justly extol ! Sacrament, which is worthy 
of being revered from the bottom of the heart, loved. 
20^ 



234 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

with the most tender and fervent affection, and of 
being deeply engraved upon our memory in in- 
delible characters ! most precious remembrance, 
which ought to be made known and exalted in all 
places, which all Christians ought ever to remember 
with feelings of the deepest gratitude, which we can 
never sufficiently meditate upon, or ever sufficiently 
worship. We are, therefore, bound to cherish a 
perpetual remembrance of it, so that we may con- 
stantly have Him before our eyes. Who offers this 
inestimable benefit to us. For the more we con- 
sider the gift, the more we prize Him who be- 
stows It. 

Although we daily commemorate this benefit in 
the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, yet, we think it just 
that, in order to confound the infidelity and mad- 
ness of heretics, we should solemnize, at least once 
in the year, and celebrate a feast, in Its honor, with 
the greatest pomp and magnificence possible. On 
the dav on which Jesus Christ instituted this Sacra- 
ment, the Church is occupied with the reconciliation 
of sinners, the blessing of the holy oils, the wash- 
ing of the feet, and other mysteries. Wherefore, 
sufficient time is not left to honor this most sublime 
Sacrament, and thus it becomes necessary to appoint 
another day for this end. Finally, it is the custom 
of the Church to devote particular days for the vene- 
ration of her saints ; although she daily honors 
them by prayers, litanies, in the Mass, etc., as also 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 235 

on other occasions. But, since on these days^. chris- 
tians often do not comply with their duties towards 
the saints, either through negligence or press of 
domestic affairs, or, from human weakness, our 
Mother, the Holy Church, has appointed a certain 
day for the general commemoration of all the saints, 
so that by this solemnity the omissions which may, 
perchance, have occurred, may be repaired. Now, 
if this has already been introduced into the Church, 
how much more are we not bound to do the same 
with regard to the life-giving Sacrament of the 
Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, Who is the glory 
and the crown of all the saints. We shall then be 
enabled to repair and make up for our want of devo- 
tion, and other defects which we may have had in 
hearing Mass, and ask our Lord's pardon for the 
same. And, indeed, at the time when our dignity 
was not so elevated as it now is, we learned how the 
Lord revealed to some few Catholics that the feast of 
Corpus Christi was to be celebrated throughout the 
whole Church. Therefore, in order to strengthen 
and exalt the true faith, we have thought it just 
and reasonable to ordain that, besides the commem- 
(oration which the Church daily makes of this Holy 
Sacrament, a particular festival shall be celebrated 
every year, on a certain day, namely, on the fifth, 
day of the week after the octave of Pentecost, on 
which day pious people wdll vie with each other to 
hasten in great crowds to our churches, where the 



236 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

clergy and laity will send forth their holy hymns of 
joy and praise. On this memorable day^ faith shall 
triumph, hope be enhanced, charity shall shine, 
piety shall exult, our temples shall re-echo with 
hymns of exultation, and j)ure souls shall tremble 
with holy joy. On this day of devotion, all the 
faithful shall hasten to our churches with joyful 
hearts, to discharge their obligations with un- 
limited obedience, and thus, in a worthy manner, 
celebrate this great feast. May the Lord vouchsafe 
to inflame them with so holy a zeal, that, by the 
exercise of their piety towards Him Who has re- 
deemed them, they may increase in merit, and that 
He may also give Himself to them in this life for 
their food. May this God likewise be their reward 
in the other world. We, therefore, inform and ex- 
hort you, in the name of the Lord, and, through 
these apostolic letters we command you^ in virtue 
of holy obedience, and enjoin upon you to have, 
every year, on the above-named fifth day of the 
week, this so glorious and praiseworthy feast cele- 
brated in all the Churches and places of your dio- 
cese. Moreover, we command you to exhort^ your-^ 
self and through others^ those under your charge^ 
so to prepare themselves, the Sunday before, by a 
perfect and sincere confession, by alms, prayers and 
other good works, which are suitable to this day of 
the Most Blessed Sacrament, that they may rever- 
ently partake of the same, and by this means r^- 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 237 

ceive an increase of grace. And as We also desire 
to stimulate, by Spiritual gifts^ the faithful, to the 
celebration and veneration of this feast. We grant 
to him or her, who^ truly penitent^ confessing his or 
her sins, attends the morning service or vespers of 
the day, one hundred days' Indulgence; and to him 
or her who is present at Prime, Tierce, Sext, None 
and Complin, forty days for each of these hours. 

Finally, relying upon the merciful Omnipotence 
of God^ and trusting in the Authority of the Holy 
Apostles Peter and Paul, We remit to him or her, 
who^ during this Octave, shall be present at the 
morning service, Vespers and Mass, one hundred 
days of penance imposed upon them. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

ADDITIONAL EXAMPLES RELATING TO THE REAL PRESENCE. 

1. Padbert relates, that a certain priest named 
Plegile asked of our Saviour the favor to be per- 
mitted to see Him with his bodily eyes in the Hoh 
Eucharist. As this request did not proceed from 
unbelief, but rather from an ardent love, it was 
granted. One day, during Mass, this pious priest 
knelt down after the consecration and besought our 



238 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

Lord anew to grant his request. An Angel tlien 
appeared to him and bade him arise. He raised his 
head and saw our Divine Saviour in the form of an 
infant. Full of joy and reverence, he begged our 
Lord to conceal Himself again under the Sacra- 
mental species, and immediately the Holy Eucha- 
rist assumed its usual appearance. This miracle 
was also witnessed by many other persons. (P. 
Favre.) 

2. The Abbe Favre also relates a miracle which 
took place at Turin in the year 1453, during the 
pontificate of Nicholas V. One night a thief entered 
one of the churches of the city and stole the sacred 
vessels. He then loaded his horse with the sacred 
burden, and attempted to leave the city at day- 
break ; but his horse fell on its knees, and with all 
his efforts the thief could not make it rise. The 
people at length began to suspect something, so 
they took off the burden from the horse and found, 
to their horror, the sacred vessels. A consecrated 
host which had remained in the ciborium rose into 
the air to the height of about sixty feet. The 
Bishop, hearing of this fact, went in procession to 
the place, accompanied by a great multitude. As 
soon as he arrived there, the holy host descended 
into the chalice which he held in his hand and was 
carried to St. John's Cathedral. A splendid church 
was erected on the spot in which this great miracle 
happened, and on the balustrade the following in- 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 239 

scription is still to be seen: ^'Hic stetit equus." 
(Here the horse stopped). This miracle is still 
annually commemorated by a festival kept through- 
out the whole diocese, and by a solemn procession 
in the city of Turin. God was pleased to work this 
miracle to confirm the faith of the people against 
the errors of the Hussites and Albigenses who were 
then ravaging that part of Italy. A few years 
ago, during one of these annual processions, another 
miracle took place which is too remarkable to be 
omitted. An impious barber had the impertinence 
to ridicule a person, whom he was shaving, for 
wishing to assist at this procession. He then went 
into the street in order to insult the Catholics and 
to ridicule the Blessed Sacrament. He kept his hat 
on, and would not take it off, though repeatedly or- 
dered to do so. But, behold ! the moment that the 
Blessed Sacrament passed by him he was struck by 
the Divine Justice and fell to the ground a corpse. 
This event made such, an impression on the whole 
city that the commissary caused the body of the im- 
pious man to be exposed before the court-house for 
thirty-six hours. A great many of the eye-wit- 
nesses of this fact are still living ; among others, 
M. Eaet, formerly Eector of Plancherine, in the 
diocese of Chauberg, who was staying at Turin 
when this melancholy occurrence took place. 

3. In 1369* the following incident occurred in the 
JSTetherlands. A Jew of Enghien, named Jonathas, 



240 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

prefect of the synagogue^ persuaded a Jew of Brus- 
sels, named John de Louvain, who was apparently 
converted to Christianityj to bring him some conse- 
crated hosts. The latter, urged on by the promise 
of a large sum of money, entered one night the 
church of St. John the Baptist at Malembeck, which 
was situated without the city, took the ciborium,, 
containing fifteen hosts, and gave it to Jonathas. 
This wicked Jew now began to offer every imagina- 
ble indignity and outrage to our Blessed Lord in 
the mystery of His love. A few days after this oc- 
currence, Jonathas was murdered. His wife, con- 
sidering his death to be a just chastisement of God, 
and fearing lest she might be punished in a similar 
manner, went to Brussels and gave the ciborium, 
with the hosts, to some Jews, who preserved them 
till Good Friday of the year 1370. On this day 
they treated the sacred hosts with every kind of in- 
dignity. At last they pierced them^ and immedi- 
diately miraculous blood began to flow from them. 
These impious wretches were so terrified at this 
sight that they fell to the ground. On recovering 
from their terror, they resolved to send the hosts to 
the Jews of Cologne. A woman named Catherine 
was charged with this commission. She, however, 
full of fear and remorse of conscience, carried the 
hosts to her parish priest at Aix-la-Chapelle, and 
gave him an account of all that had happened. The- 
priest then informed the duke and duchess of the- 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 241 

whole affair. The impious Jews were arrested and 
tried, and having been fully convicted of the crime, 
they suffered the punishment they so justly deserved. 
This happened on the eve of Ascension day 1370. 
This history is recorded in the archives of the city 
of Brussels. The sacred hosts are still preserved in 
the church of St. Gudule in the same city. There 
are also several pictures in this church representing 
this event. 

4. The following miracle is related by St. Francis 
de Sales. In a certain church in the town of Faver- 
nay, in France, the Blessed Sacrament was once ex- 
posed on a side altar to the adoration of the faith- 
ful. During the exposition, a spark happening to 
fall from one of the lighted tapers, set the mar on 
fire. In a short time everything was destroyed — 
even the repository, in which the Blessed Sacrament 
was kept, was consumed. The Blessed Sacrament 
itself, however, remained in its place, and when the 
priest endeavored to carry it to the high altar he 
found that he could not move it. He then began to 
celebrate Mass, and when he came to the consecra- 
tion, the host came, of its own accord, to the high 
altar, and remained there till after the Communion, 
when it returned to its former place and remained 
suspended in the air as before. This miracle was 
repeated for several years in succession. St. Francis 
de Sales says that he himself made a pilgrimage to 
the place in order to witness this miracle. 
21 



242 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

5. In the year 1563, a Lutheran nobleman in the 
city of Erford, ridiculed the Blessed Sacrament as it 
was carried in procession by the Eev. Father Th. 
Baumeier. ^^ Behold/' said he^ ^^what a ridicu- 
lous thing that old man is carrying !" No sooner 
had he uttered these words than he fell speechless 
to the ground. Dr. J. Hebenstreit was instantly 
called in, but pronounced him beyond recovery. A 
few days after the nobleman was a corpse. (Wil- 
liam of Gent.) 

6. Many facts of the kind have occurred even in our 
own day. The three following are related on the au- 
thority of ecclesiastics who were inhabitants of the 
places in which they occurred : There lived at 
Witt^, near Aix-la-Chapelle, a pious person who 
was accustomed to see Jesus Christ in the Blessed 
Sacrament whenever she assisted at Mass. Now, 
one day she did not behold our Lord as usual. She 
went, therefore, to the priest after Mass and said : 
'' Rev. Father, you have committed such and such, a 
fault, and this is why I did not, as usual, see Jesus 
Christ during your Mass/' The priest was filled 
with surprise at these words, as he knew that what 
she said was true. 

Y. In Holland a church was set on fire. Among 
those present was an old man who rushed boldly 
into the flames in order to take away the Blessed 
Sacrament. Immediately the flames divided before 
him and left him a passage to the high altar. He 



OUR GKEATEST TREASURE. 243 

then took down the Blessed Sacrament and carried 
it away without receiving the slightest injury. A 
painting representing this miraculous occurrence 
is still to be seen in the church in which it took 
place. 

8. About thirty years ago, on the feast of Corpus 
Christi, several of the citizens of Duren, near Aix- 
la-Chapelle, were sitting together in an inn front- 
ing on the great market-place, when the solemn 
procession of the Most Holy Sacrament passed by. 
Among those present was the son of the burgomaster. 
NoWj as the priest gave the benediction, with the 
Blessed Sacrament at the altar that had been erected 
in the square, this young man held up a silver dol- 
lar in his hand and mimicked the sacred cer^nony. 
In a few days the very arm with which he had com- 
mitted this crime began to mortify ; the mortifica- 
tion soon extended to the shoulder, and, after a 
short time, the unhappy man died. Moreover, from 
this moment the blessing of God forsook his house ; 
several of his family died, and the rest sunk into 
poverty and disgrace. 

9. The three following instances w^ill be of spe- 
cial interest, as they have happened in this country. 
In the year 1824, Mrs. Ann Mattingly, of Wash- 
ington, D. C, was miraculously cured of a severe 
illness in the following manner : She had been suf- 
fering from a dangerous cancer for seven years. 
Every remedy was tried, but in vain ; the disease 



244 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

was incurable. She lost the use of her left arm; 
her back and shoulders became ulcerated in conse- 
quence of her long confinement to her bed, and the 
symptoms of approaching dissolution began to ap- 
pear. In this state, finding that all natural means 
were unavailing, she had recourse to God. In con- 
cert with Prince Hohenlohe and her pastor, the 
Eev. Stephen L. Dubuisson, she began a novena in 
honor of the Most Holy Name of Jesus, and at the 
end of the novena she received the Blessed Sacra- 
ment. When she was about to receive Holy Com- 
munion, believing that the time had come when 
she must either die or be restored to health, she ut- 
tered these words : '^ Lord Jesus ! Thy holy will be 
glorified.'' Her tongue was so rough and parched 
from fever that she was unable to swallow the host 
for five or six minutes ; but the moment she swal- 
lowed it all pain instantly left her, her body was 
entirely healed, and she found herself in perfect 
health. She immediately arose and dressed herself, 
and after having knelt down to give thanks to God, 
she received hundreds of visitors who came to con- 
gratulate her and to witness the miracle. These 
facts are all attested by a number of competent wit- 
nesses, and any one who desires to examine the 
evidence, can find a full statement of the case in the 
works of Bishop England. 

10. At the burning of the Ursuline Convent near 
Charlestown, Mass., when the nuns were driven 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 245 

from their cloister at the hour of midnight by a 
fanatical mob, one of the ruffians had the hardihood 
to open the tabernacle, and seizing the sacred ves- 
sels, he poured into the pocket of a companion the 
consecrated hosts which they contained. The lat- 
ter, on his way back to Charlestown, treated the 
sacred particles with the most atrocious irreverence^ 
and even jestingly offered them to a tavern-keeper 
in payment for the liquor he had drank. He then 
returned home and related to his wife an account of 
the night's proceedings. Shortly afterwards he 
went into the yard, but as he did not return, the 
family became uneasy, and sought for him every- 
where. After searching for sometime they found 
him a ghastly corpse. He had died the death of 
Arius. This fact was related by the late Bishop 
Fenwick of Boston. 

11. The Eev. Anthony Urbanek, who, in the 
years 1847 and 1848, exercised the functions of the 
holy ministry in the city of Milwaukee, in the State 
of Wisconsin, gave the following account of a won- 
derful conversion wrought by the recital of the 
^^ Hail Mary'' : He frequently visited a Protestant 
family by the name of Pollworth, natives of Hano- 
ver, but then residing a few hours drive from Mil- 
waukee. After a short time Mrs. Pollworth joined 
the Catholic Church, but her husband remained ob- 
stinate, and would often say that he would never 
become a Catholic. He would not even allow hia 
21* 



246 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

children to be baptized^ although his wife resorted 
to every possible means to obtain his consent. All 
who knew him used to say it would require nothing 
less than a miracle to make a Catholic of Pollworth. 
The priest continued his visits^ and their conversa- 
tion generally fell upon the truths of Catholicity. 
But every effort to convince Mr. Pollworth wa^ 
vain ; he had always a thousand objections to pre- 
sent. On one of these visits^ after having long and 
uselessly endeavored to open the eyes of his head- 
strong friend to the truth of the Catholic faith, 
Kev. Mr. Urbanek at last said to him : '' I see well, 
Mr. Pollworth^ that I can do nothing with you.'' 
At that moment the good priest was suddenly in- 
spired with a feeling of extraordinary confidence in 
the intercession of the Blessed Virgin, and, contin- 
uing to address Mr. Pollworth, he added: '^But 
you must, at least, promise me one thing.'' ^' What 
may that be ?" asked his friend in the low German 
dialect. '^ I will tell you after you will have promised 
it," answered Kev. Mr. Urbanek. ^^ It is not diffi- 
cult, and you can conscientiously do it." After a 
good deal of argument, Mr. Pollworth finally prom- 
ised to do what might be asked of him. ^' Then," 
said the priest, '' say on every Sunday henceforth one 
^ Hail Mary' for my intention, and you will, in a 
short time, experience a great change in your feel- 
ings?" Mr. Pollworth laughed at these words ; but 
he Kept his promise faithfully. About fourteen days 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 247 

after the promise was made, he suddenly accosted 
his wife thus : ^^ I am going to Milwaukee now, to 
l3uy some new clothes for the children.'' The as- 
tonished wife asked: ^'^But why at this time so 
particularly T' ^^ Well, I have at last made up my 
mind to let the children be baptized," was his reply. 
The news spread like wild-fire through the entire 
neighborhood. ^^Pollworth has, at length, con- 
sented to have his children baptized,'' was in every 
one's mouth. 

He, moreover, begged the Eev. Mr. Urbanek to 
have the ceremony performed with the greatest 
solemnity. His request was granted. The Eev. 
Pastor invited another Priest and two Clerics to 
assist at the baptism, which took place before High 
Mass. After Mass, the Most Blessed Sacrament 
was exposed and the hymn ^ Pange Lingua' sung by 
the choir. The newly baptized children stood close 
to the altar steps, and their father immediately be- 
hind them. During the singing of the hymn, it 
suddenly occurred to Mr. Pollworth to look at the 
Blessed Sacrament, but being forced by the im- 
mense crowd that was pressing towards the sanc- 
tuary to stand, if he would not kneel upon his chil- 
dren, he feared lest a free glance at the Sacred Host 
might have the appearance of irreverence. How- 
ever, he was not long able to resist the inclination. 
He looked towards the altar and saw the Sacred 
Host as it always is ; but, it soon increased to the 



248 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

size of a mill-stone, and in the centre of it there 
apjDeared the Good Shepherd with a lamb upon His 
shoulders. This sight did not perplex the man : he 
wished to convince himself of what he seemed to see. 
He accordingly closed one eye for awhile and thus 
looked at the apparition, and then again with both 
eyes, until he was fully satisfied that there was no 
illusion in the matter. Besides, it w^as a clear noon- 
day, and he was standing scarcely two steps from 
the altar. After the lapse of about five minutes, 
the vision disappeared, and the sacred host resumed 
its original appearance. On leaving the church, 
Pollworth asked some of his neighbors whether they 
had seen nothing singular daring the divine ser- 
vice ; but when he perceived that they knew nothing 
of the apparition, he said no more. The next day 
he invited the priest to pay him a visit, and as soon 
as Eev. Mr. Urbanek entered the house, Pollworth 
said : '^ Now^ indeed, is the lost sheep at last found, 
after its long straying among the briars. I wish to 
become a Catholic.'' A few days later he was re- 
ceived into the Church, and after he had made his 
Profession of Faith, he solemnly attested by oath to 
the truth of the vision above related. On the same 
day a bigoted Calvinist was baptized. Upon the 
simple assurance of Mr. Pollworth of what had 
taken place he had been converted. The Eight 
Kev. Bishop granted to the congregation of the 
church, in which the wonder had taken place, the 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 249 

privilege of having, on every 16tli of July, the day 
of the apparition, a solemn procession with the 
Blessed Sacrament, exactly as on Corpus Christi. 
Pollworth and his family always go to Holy Com- 
munion on this day. 

12. Towards the close of the last century^ there 
lived a very impious man in Eottweil^ a little town 
of Swabia, Germany. One day, when in the most 
solemn procession of Corpus Christi, the Blessed 
Sacrament passed by the house of this impious 
wretch, he had the diabolical audacity to scoff at 
the Blessed Sacrament in a most horrid manner. 
He placed himself before the window^ in his shirt 
sleeves, with his butcher's apron on and a white 
night-cap on his head. By appearing in this unbe- 
coming dress he wished to show his contempt and 
disrespect to the Holy Eucharist. What was still 
worse, as the Blessed Sacrament passed by him, he 
spat upon it. Only a few persons noticed his im- 
piety, otherwise it would have been immediately re- 
venged. But what men failed to do God was not 
slow in accomplishing. This blasphemer soon after 
died the death of a reprobate. This, however, was 
not all. The dreadful scandal which he had given, 
and which, had become generally known, and the 
outrage which he had offered the Divine Majesty, 
required a public act of reparation. God made use 
of the following means to effect this : Immediately 
after the death of this impious man, such horrible 



250 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

noises^ «ucli frightful groanings^ lamentations and 
howlings were heard in his house that no one could 
stand it any longer. Every person easily guessed 
the cause of it ; the difficulty was, how to remove 
it. At last, as if inspired by God, they had re- 
course to the following expedient : It was resolved 
that this man's portrait should be painted in the 
same dress and posture in which he had appeared, 
to scoff at the Blessed Sacrament, and that the 
painting should be placed in the opening of the 
wall instead of the window, in order to show to all 
who should pass by how God punishes the scoffers 
of the Blessed Sacrament. Strange to say, no 
sooner was this painting placed in the wall, than 
the house became quiet. Some years afterwards the 
wife of a Protestant preacher, who lived opposite, 
could no longer bear the sight of this horrid por- 
trait. Accordingly, her husband went to the Civil 
Magistrate to obtain an ordinance for the removal 
of the picture. His petition was granted ; but no 
sooner was the painting removed than the former 
frightful scenes returned, and continued until the 
alarmed people of the house obtained permission to 
restore the painting to its place. One of our Fathers 
related this event to me, as an eye-witness of the 
fact. 

13. In a procession at Valencia, when Blessed 
Nicholas Fattori was carrying the Blessed Sacra- 
ment, all at once a flock of birds came and formed 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 251 

a crown just above the canopy^ singing most melo- 
diously, and steadily accompanying the procession, 
their warbling notes harmonizing beautifully with 
the ecclesiastical chant. When^ afterwards, he was 
asked about this, he answered with a smile, that 
they were Angels who came from heaven to honor 
their Divine King. (His Life.) 

14, At the time when the modern heresies in re- 
lation to the Eeal Presence were arising, our Lord 
was pleased to illustrate this doctrine by a miracle. 
A nobleman of Tyrol named Oswald Mulser, on 
€oming to make his Paschal Communion, insisted 
on being communicated with a large host. This 
was an act of pride and unbelief, but the priest was 
induced, through human respect, to give him a large 
host instead of a small one, such as are ordinarily 
given ; but, in the very moment when the host was 
placed on his tongue, the ground opened under his 
feet as if to swallow him. He had already sunk 
down to his knees when he seized hold of the altar, 
which yielded like wax to his hand. Seeing now 
the vengeance of Grod overtaking him, he repented 
of his pride, and prayed for mercy. As God would 
not permit him to swallow the sacred host, the 
priest removed it and replaced it in the tabernacle. 
It was the color of blood. The author who records 
this (Tilman Bredenbach) says, that he himself saw 
the host tinged with blood, the altar bearing the 
impress of Oswald's hands, and the ground into 



252 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

which he was sinking still hollow^ and covered with 
iron bars. Witnesses testify to these visible evi- 
dences of the miracle, even to the present day. 

15. Three years ago one of our priests received a 
letter from his Father in Treves, Germany. In this 
letter a very melancholy example was related that 
occurred in that city on the occasion of the solemn 
procession of Corpus Christi. When the procession 
passed by the house of a certain Protestant gentle- 
man, his servant girl, who was a Catholic, said to 
her master : ^^0 come and see the splendid proces- 
sion and the faith of the Catholics." In answer ta 
this invitation, the gentleman uttered a most hor- 
rible blasphemy against the Blessed Sacrament. 
No sooner had it left the blasphemous lips than he 
fell to the ground dead. The whole city looked 
upon this instantaneous death as an evident chas- 
tisement of God for the horrible crime of blas- 
phemy. 

16. '^ One day," said the Cure d'Ars, when cate- 
chising the people, '^ two Protestant ministers came 
to me who did not believe in the Keal Presence of 
our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. I said to them : 
^ Do you think a piece of bread could detach itself^ 
andj of its own accord^ go and place itself on the- 
tongue of a person who came near to receive it ?^ 
^ No,' said they. ' Well, then, it is not bread.' " 
The saintly Curate then related the following fact : 
'^ There was a man who had doubts about the Eeal 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 253 

Presence^ and he said : ' What do we know about 
it ? it is not certain what consecration is ! What 
happens on the altar at that moment ?' But this 
man wished to believe, and he prayed to the Blessed 
Virgin to obtain faith for him. Listen attentively 
to this : I do not say that this happened somewhere^ 
but I say that it happened to myself. At the mo- 
ment when this man came up to receive Holy Com- 
munion the Sacred Host detached Itself from my 
fingers, while I was yet a good way oflP, went of It- 
self and placed Itself upon the tongue of that 
man.'' (Spirit of the Cure d'Ars.) 

17. The same Cure relates also, that a priest once, 
after consecration, had some little doubt whether his 
few words could have made our Lord descend upon 
the altar ; at the same moment he saw the host all 
red, and the corporal tinged with blood. 

18. Charles II., king of Spain, took a ride in his 
carriage at Madrid, on the twentieth of January, 
1685, accompanied by many personages of nobility 
and high rank, and followed by a large concourse 
of the common people. Perceiving a priest ap- 
proaching with the Blessed Sacrament, he quickly 
alighted from his carriage and knelt down to adore 
his Saviour in the Holy Eucharist, after which he 
begged the priest to take his place in the carriage. 
Taking his hat in his left hand, and holding, like 
a coachman, the reins of the horses, he followed on 
foot, with uncovered head, to the house of the sick 

22 



254 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

person. Here he again knelt kown to adore his 
Lord and God in the Blessed Sacrament. He served 
the priest to the best of his power. Finally, he 
bestov/ed a rich present on the family, in order that 
the sick man might die with less solicitude for those 
he was to leave behind him. (Bollandus.) 

19. It may excite surprise to hear that irrational 
animals can teach us lessons of reverence towards 
the Most Holv Sacrament, but such is the case. 
There are not a few instances on record which prove 
that the Divine Author of nature has been pleased 
sometimes so to direct the instinct of brutes that^ 
by their behavior, they might confound the pride of 
heretics and infidels,, or awaken the devotion of 
lukewarm and indifferent Catholics. In the life of 
St. Anthony of Padua, a very striking miracle is 
recorded. As Almighty Grod, by the prophet Isaias, 
proposed the docility of the ox and the ass as a re- 
buke to the stubbornness of the children of Israel, 
so, in this instance, He made use of a brute beast 
to reprove the folly of those who reject the mystery 
of the Eeal Presence. In the time of St. Anthony 
of Padua, there lived at Tolosa, a city of Spain, a 
very obstinate heretic, Bovillus by name, who de- 
nied the Eeal Presence of Jesus Christ in the Blessed 
Sacrament. Although St. Anthony compelled him 
to acknowledge interiorly the truth of this doctrine, 
he persisted obstinately in his heresy. At last, he 
professed his willingness to believe provided he 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 255 

should see a miracle wrought in proof of it. 
'^ What, then, do you desire?'' St. Anthony asked. 
'•' I will/' said the heretic, '- keep my mule without 
food for three days ; afterwards, I will bring him to 
you. On one side I will place food before him, and 
on the other side you shall stand with the Blessed 
Sacrament. In case the mule leaves the food and 
goes to you, I will believe that Jesus Christ is truly 
and really present in the Blessed Sacrament.'' St. 
Anthony having agreed to the proposal, on the day 
appointed a great concourse of people were assem- 
bled together in the public square to see the issue. 
St. Anthony, after having said Mass, took the 
Blessed Sacrament and carried It with him to the 
square. Then, when the hungry animal had been 
brought near and food put before him, St. Anthony, 
holding in his hands the Blessed Sacrament, thus 
spoke : ^^ In the name of my Creator, Whom I am 
not worthy to hold in my hands, I command thee 
to draw near and prostrate thyself before thy God, 
to give due honor to Him, that the heretics may 
learn from thee how they ought to w^orship their 
God in the Blessed Sacrament;" and behold! no 
sooner had St. Anthony thus spoken than the mule 
left his food, went before the Blessed Sacrament, 
and bowed his head to the ground as if to adore it. 
At this sight, Bovillus, and many other heretics, 
were converted and professed their faith in the Real 
Presence. 



256 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

20. St. Francis of Assisi, whose power over irra- 
tional creatures almost carries us back to the days 
of man's original innocence, was followed by a 
sheep wherever he went. This sheep went even into 
the churchy andj during the time of Mass, would 
keep very quiet until the consecration, when it 
would kneel down as if to adore its Creator. 

21. The most striking fact of this reverence shown 
by animals, and one which would seem almost in- 
credible if its truth was not vouched by such au- 
thors as John Eusebius and Stephen Menochius, is 
related of a baker's dog at Lisbon. This dog, 
without ever having been taught to do so, seemed 
to exhibit towards the Most Blessed Sacrament all 
that devoted fidelity which so often distinguishes 
the attachment of these animals to their masters. 
As soon as the bell rang to announce that the 
Blessed Sacrament was to be carried to the sick, he 
would run to the church, and, lying down at the 
door, he would wait till the priest came out with 
the Blessed Sacrament, when he would join the pro- 
cession, running from one side to the other as if he 
was deputed to keep order. Once the bell was rung 
about midnight. The dog instantly jumped up to 
go in all haste to the church, but the doors of the 
house being all locked so that he could not get out, 
he went to his master's room, whining and bark- 
ing, in order to awaken him, but not being success- 
ful, he went to another person, whom he pulled by 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 25 T 

his clothes to the door of the hoiise^ and held on to 
him till he opened it. Once in Holy Week he 
watched for twenty-four hours successively when the 
Blessed Sacrament was exposed in the sepulchre. 
He would not permit the slightest indecorum in the 
presence of the Blessed Sacrament, and so long as 
he was in the church no one dared to sit or stand. 
On one occasion, as the Viaticum was being carried 
to a sick person, he found a pedlar asleep on the 
road-side ; he barked until the man awoke, uncov- 
ered his head and knelt whilst the Viaticum was 
passing. On one occasion he compelled a country 
woman, who was riding on an ass, to dismount and 
adore the Blessed Sacrament. Sometimes he was 
mistaken in the signal, and would go to the church 
when the bell had rung for a funeral ; in such cases 
he would return home immediately. No one, not 
even his master, was able to break him of this 
habit, and whether they tried to entice him with 
food, or fastened him up, all was in vain. In the 
one case, he would snap at the meat once or twice, 
then, as if fearing to be late, he would run off to 
the church. In the other case, he would howl so 
dreadfully that they were glad to release him. Thus 
has God been pleased to give us, through a creature 
devoid of understanding, a lesson in our duty. 

22. There is no kind of miracle which, to our 
Catholic instincts, strikes us as less miraculous than 
a miracle wrought by the Blessed Sacrament. The 

99* 



258 t:ie blessed eucharist 

miracles of our Blessed Lord in the Gospels, as com- 
pared with those of His Apostles and Disciples in 
the Acts of the Apostles, seem natural and obvious. 
Once acknowledge Our Blessed Lord's Divinity, 
and all distinction between the natural and the su- 
pernatural seems to cease in His regard, and mira- 
cles flow as the direct consequence of His Presence. 
In the same way, once grant the doctrine of the 
Eeal Presence in the Blessed Sacrament, and the 
wonder is that miracles are not of daily and hourly 
occurrence in our churches. The word '^ miracle" 
is, perhaps, ill-selected to express what is here in- 
tended, since every offering of Holy Mass is in re- 
ality a far greater miracle than anything else in 
the world. Every Sacramental act of Holy Church 
is miraculous, inasmuch as it is supernatural. The 
supernatural order is as incidental to the ordinary 
working and life of the Church as the natural order 
is incidental to the Q;overnment of the world. It is 
not the ^^supernaturaP' which is infrequent, but 
^^manifestations of the supernatural.'' These are 
only granted occasionally at rare intervals for the 
sake of encouragement or proof, and generally as a 
reward for very deep and ardent faith. As the 
Archbishop of Westminster remarks in his prefa- 
tory commendation of this miracle, it is a manifes- 
tation of Supernatural power to '^ confirm our con- 
sciousness of the operations of the Holy Ghost, both 
Sacramental and miraculous, which, like His pres- 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 259 

ence, from which they flow, are perpetual in the 
Church/' 

The present miracle is introduced to us under the 
double warranty, so to speak, of the Cure of St. 
Martin at Metz, who narrates it, and the Bishop of 
Metz^ who endorses the narrative^ with his imprim- 
atur, in the following words : 

^' Bishop's Palace, Metz. 

'^ Having considered the following narrative to be 
as edifying as we know it to be strictly conformable 
to truth, we have approved of its publication. It is 
scarcely possible to imagine anything more likely 
to awaken in the hearts of Christians earnest senti- 
ments of faith, trust and love for our Lord Jesus 
Christ in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar, and 
to increase amongst us devotion to the Institution of 
the Perpetual Adoration, than this simple recital of 
what took place in the Church of St. Martin during 
the religious services of that holy time. It would 
seem as if our Blessed Lord had wished to show bv 
a signal favor how acceptable is this homage to His 
Divine Heart, and had chosen for that token the 
sudden and miraculous cure of a young girl whose 
faith had led her to fall at His feet, and to cry out 
with lively faith aijd humble confidence, ' Lord, if 
Thou wilt, Thou canst make me whole !' 

'' yi< Paul, Bisliop of 3Ietz. 
At Metz, 8th September, 1865. 



ci 



260 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

The statement of the Cure carries conviction to 
every candid reader by the truthful simplicity of its 
style. Ann Clery, who was the daughter of a dis- 
tinguished member of the magistrature^ still living,, 
was sent to school at the convent of the Sacred 
Heart at Metz, at the age of thirteen. Soon after 
she first went to school, her health gradually de- 
cayed, and after several serious attacks, her malady 
assumed the form of the disease which her Paris 
physician described as *• muscular and atrophical 
paralysis.'' For more than nine years she lingered 
in a state of infirmity, pronounced by one doctor 
after another as incurable. In 1859 her physician 
had declared that she would be a cripple as long as 
she lived. 

^•'From that time — that is, from the middle of 
the year 1859 up to the present time — Mdlle. de 
Clery has not been attended by any physician. Her 
mother alone watched over her health. Her infirm- 
ities kept increasing. She could hardly digest any 
food. Her thinness and weakness were pitiable. 
Violent headaches, three or four times a week, added 
to her j)rostration of strength. She could not be 
laid on the bed or the couch without suffering in- 
tense pain ; and at such moments a strange effect 
of these paroxysms was visible in her face. Her 
eyelids became inflamed and of a purple color ; this 
gave to her countenance an indescribable appear- 
ance of suffering. Paralysis was beginning to af- 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 261 

feet her arms, the only limbs she had hitherto re- 
tained the use of. It was feared that she would 
soon lose the principal means of occupation and 
amusement within her reach — the exercise of her 
skill in fancy works. The future prospects of this 
young lady seemed sad indeed to human prevision ; 
but the time was at hand which God, in His wis- 
dom, had fixed upon for the fulfillment of His mer- 
ciful designs." 

Her resignation to God's will was most complete. 
During several years a priest brought her Holy 
Communion every week, and she spent her time in 
embroidering altar cloths or making artificial flow- 
ers for Corpus Christi. 

She felt a great longing to be carried to the 
church of St. Martin, for the forty hour's devotion 
which was to take j)lace on the 12th, 13th, and 
14th of last June. The state of her health pre- 
vented the accomplishment of her wish until the 
third day. 

^^ On the morning of the 14th of June, Ann re- 
ceived Communion in her bed. At twelve o'clock, 
which was the hour of adoration assigned by the 
parochial regulations to the inhabitants of the street 
in which the Hotel Coetlosquet is situated, she was 
carried to the church — she, a woman of twenty- 
three years of age — like a baby of a few months, by 
her maid Clementine, who sat down on a bench on 
the left side of the nave and held her on her knees. 



262 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

Madame de Clery and Mdlle. Therese de Coetlos- 
quet knelt, the one by her side, and the other on 
the bench behind, in order, as much as possible, to 
screen her from observation. Madame and Mdlle. 
Paulin de Coetlosquet, who had j)receded them, 
were kneeling in another part of the church. 
Neither the invalid herself, nor any of her friends, 
were expecting the extraordinary event about to 
take place. 

''' After a few moment's rest from the fatigue she 
had gone through, and which was producing, as 
usual, a purple flush in her eyelids, Ann fixed her 
attention on the Blessed Sacrament ; and after some 
instants' silent adoration, she said the prayer she 
often used at the moment of Communion : ^ Lord, 
if Thou wilt, Thou canst cure me.' At the same 
instant she felt so violent a pain in her whole body 
that it w^as all she could do not to scream out. She 
prayed earnestly for strength to bear it, and then 
added : ' My God, if it is Thy will that I should 
be carried back to my sick bed, give me grace at 
least to be always resigned to Thy Holy will.' I 
cannot describe what then happened between Grod 
and her soul. She says she felt penetrated with 
faith and hope, and, as she expresses it, became con- 
scious that she was cured. She wanted to kneel. 
Her maid whispered to her : ' Mademoiselle, you 
will fall down.' But Ann threw herself on her 
knees, and said to those about her : ^ Pray, pray ; I 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 263 

am cured ! ' These words filled them with astonish- 
ment ; tears and sobs mingled with their prayers. 
Madame de Clery, overwhelmed with emotion, in a 
state of bewilderment, not knowing what to think 
or to believe, led her daughter out of the church. 
She could not credit the evidence of her senses when 
she saw her standing on her feet, and then walking 
only with the help of her arm. They went into a 
summer-house in the adjacent garden, and there the 
poor mother, whose fears made her incredulous, as- 
certained that the knots under her daughter's knees 
had entirely disappeared. Ann entreated to be al- 
io Aved to return to the church, where she remained 
for three quarters of an hour kneeling before the 
Blessed Sacrament, without feeling the least tired, 
and pouring forth praises and thanksgivings. 

^^ When I was told what happened, I went to the 
summer-house, but could not attend to any of the 
persons assembled around Ann. I could only look 
at her in silence and astonishment, whilst with in- 
tense gratitude to God she showed me that she could 
stretch out her limbs, walked, kneel, and hold up 
her head without effort. She was completely cured. 
God had done the work ; and His work, accom- 
plished in an instant, was perfect. All the aliments 
which had afflicted her had disappeared at the same 
time as the paralysis, and the weakness which fol- 
lows long illness did not attend her recovery. Nu- 



264- THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

merous proofs evinced it. The hour of vespers was^ 
at hand. Ann said she wished to be present at the 
service. Following the dictates of natural pru- 
dence — for I was not certain how far, in restoring 
her health, G-od had given back to her her strength 
also — I advised that she should rest, or, at least, if 
she was bent on coming to the church that day, 
that she should wait in the summer-house till the 
time of Benediction. She complied with my re- 
quest ; but when the hymn ^ Pange lingua,' &c., 
resounded in her ears — ^ Sing, my soul, the mystery 
of the glorious Body of Christ' — she could not sit 
still, and hastened to join the crowd which filled the 
church. 

^^The next day, which was the Feast of Corpus 
Christi, she heard a Mass in Thanksgiving, and 
went to Communion, kneeling at the altar amongst 
all the other communicants — a happiness she had 
not enjoyed for nine years. She was present during 
the whole of the High Mass, which is celebrated 
every Thursday in honor of the Blessed Sacrament^ 
and in the afternoon was again in the church, kneel- 
ing before the altar and pouring forth the expres- 
sions of her ardent thankfulness. Three days after- 
wards — that is, on the Sunday on which the Feast 
of Corpus Christi is kept in France — Ann spent 
seven hours in presence of the Blessed Sacrament, 
hearing Mass, attending Benediction, or visiting; 



OUR GREATESr TREASURE. 265 

our Lord at other times. When she was urged to 
moderate her devotion and to husband her strength, 
she replied that far from feeling the least fatigue, 
she experienced an increase of strength and vitality 
whenever she approached our Blessed Lord.'' 

23. Having received information from many per- 
sons of the wonderful occurrence which I am now 
going briefly to relate, says St. Alphonsus in his 
book, ^' Visits to the Blessed Sacrament/' I endea- 
vored to collect evidence sufficient to enable me 
to publish an account of it : and I first obtained 
a full relation of the fact, written by a priest of 
the same town, who was one of the eye-witnesses of 
the miracle. But not^satisfied with this, I read my- 
self the authentic process which was drawn up by 
the Archiepiscopal Court of Naples, by order of his 
eminence Cardinal Sersale, the present Archbishop. 
The process is very long, consisting of 364 pages, — 
a most careful investigation into the facts having 
been made by the officers of the court from the evi- 
dence of many priests and lay persons, all of whom, 
in perfect agreement, made their depositions on oath. 

It happened, on the morning of the 28th of Jan- 
uary in the past year 1772, at a place called S. 
Pietro a Paterno, in the diocese of Naples, that the 
tabernacle of the parish-church, in which the Blessed 
Sacrament was reserved, was found open, and that 
the two ciboriums, a large and a small one, contain- 
ing many particles, had been taken away. 
23 



266 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

For several days the whole neighborhood was in 
the greatest distress and grief; and though the 
most diligent search was made, no tidings could be 
obtained either of the ciboriums or of the sacred 
particles. At length, on Thursday, the 18th of 
February, a certain youth, Griuseppe Orefice, of 
about eighteen years old, as he was passing in the 
evening near the property of the Duke of Grotto- 
lelle, saw a number of lights, which had the ap- 
pearance of bright stars. The following evening 
he saw the same thing ; and oq coming home he 
told his father what he had seen ; his, father, how- 
ever, would not believe him. 

On the following day, about an hour before sun- 
rise, the father was passing by the same spot, with 
Giuseppe and his brother Giovanni (a child of eleven 
years), who, turning to his father, said: '^See, 
father, the lights of which Giuseppe spoke to you 
yesterday evening, and you would not believe him.'' 

On the evening of the same day^ the same boys, 
on coming home, again saw the lights in the same 
place. D. Girolamo Guarino, the confessor of Giu- 
seppe Orefice, was then informed of it, who, in com- 
pany with his brother D. Diego, also a priest, went 
to the spot where the lights had been seen, and 
meanwhile sent for Orefice, who, on coming there 
wdth his brother and a person^called Tomaso Pic- 
cino, again saw the lights ; but at that time the 
priests saw nothing. 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 267 

On the evenin«: of Monday, the 23d of February, 
Orefice returned to the spot with Piccino and a man 
named Carlo Marotta, and met on the road two 
strangers, who stopped and asked them what those 
many lights were which they had just distinctly 
seen, and which twinkled like stars ? They replied 
that they did not know ; and, taking leave of the 
strangers, they ran in haste to mark the spot where 
they had seen the lights. As soon as they had 
marked the spot, which was distant a few steps from 
the hedge, and in which was a poplar tree higher 
than the rest of the trees, they went to find the two 
priests already mentioned, told them what had oc- 
curred, and returned all together. to the spot. 

When they were all there, with a child of five 
years, nephew to the two priests, the child cried out, 
^' See, there are the lights, which look like two can- 
dles.'' (Here we must observe, that the lights did 
not always appear in the same manner.) At the 
same moment Orefice saw these two lights, and said 
they shone like two stars ; Carlo and Tamaso also 
saw them, and three other children of Signor Grua- 
rino, close to the poplar already mentioned. 

After this they heard the shouting of many peo- 
ple, who, from a stack of straw which was on the 
property, were begging the priest to come and see 
in the stack a great light in the appearance of a 
flame. In the meantime, a w^oman, named Lucia 
Marotta^ threw herself with her face to the ground 
on the spot where the light was seen. 



268 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

The priests and many other persons ran up, and 
having lifted up the woman, commenced to dig the 
ground ; but then they found nothing. The two 
brothers, Giuseppe Orefice, with Tomaso Piccino and 
Carlo Marotta, then returned to the town, and going 
along the Strada Eegia, they heard the cries of those 
who had remained on the spot. Going back there, 
Piccino fell suddenly upon his face ; and after a few 
steps, Giuseppe felt- himself pushed forward on the 
shoulders, and he also at once fell to the ground. 
In the same way, and at the same moment, tbe 
other two, Carlo Marotta and Giovanni, Giuseppe's 
brother^ also fell ; and all four felt their heads 
wounded, as if they had received a severe blow with 
a stick. 

Having got up, they went forward a few steps ; 
and both Giuseppe, as also Carlo, Tomaso^ and Gio- 
vanni, saw a brilliant light as of the sun coming 
forth from beneath the poplar tree ; and they all 
four saw rising out of this light, to about four or 
five feet in height, a dove, which was almost as 
brilliant as the light itself : the dove, however, 
gliding down into the earth at the foot of the pop- 
lar, from which it came out, disappeared, as also 
did the light. What the dove signified is not 
known ; but it appears certain that it was something 
supernatural ; and all the persons already mentioned 
gave evidence of the fact upon oath before the Vi- 
car-General of NajDles. 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 269 

After this, remaining in the same place, they all 
cried out: ^' See, there are the lights!" And go- 
ing on their knees, they began to seek for the sacred 
particles. While Piccino was scooping out the 
earth with his hands, they saw one particle come 
out white as paper. They then sent to call the 
priests. D. Diego Guarino came, and kneeling 
down he took the sacred particle and put it in a 
white linen handkerchief, amid the tears and devo- 
tion of all the people, who wept bitterly. 

He then began to search more carefully ; and hav- 
ing removed some more earth, he saw a group of 
about forty particles appear, which had not lost 
their whiteness, although they had been buried for 
nearly a month from the time they were stolen. 
They were placed in the same handkerchief, and 
the earth in which they were found was also re- 
moved. 

It being now rumored about, other priests of the 
place came to the spot, bringing with them a cibo- 
rium, cotta, stole, canopy and torches. In the 
meantime, a priest and a gentleman went to Mon- 
signor the Vicar-General to know what was to be 
done. An order came, that the particles should be 
carried processionally to the church. They did so, 
and arrived at the church about half-past eleven at 
night, when the particles were placed in the taber- 
nacle. 

This took place on the night of the 24th of Feb- 
23* 



2 TO THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

ruary. The people were mucli consoled, but not 
fully so, because the greater part of the particles, as 
was supposed, were still wanting. 

But on the evening of the following Tuesday, the 
25th, a small light, but very brilliant, was seen in 
the same place as at the first, by many persons, 
country-people, gentlemen, as also by the priests 
D. Diego Guarino and D. Giuseppe Lindtner, who 
wrote for me an account of the whole affair, as I 
mentioned at the beginning. This priest being 
much terrified, pointed to a mustard-plant which 
was growing there, and cried out: ^-'0 Jesus, 
Jesus ! look at the light there, look at it !" Upon 
which the others also saw a most dazzling light, 
which rose about a foot and a half from the ground, 
and formed itself on the top into the figure of a 
rose. Giuseppe Orefice, who was there, affirmed 
that the light was so brilliant that his eyes remained 
for some time dazzled and dimmed. 

They began, therefore, to seek the remainder of 
the particles in that place, but found none ; but on 
the evening of the following day, the 26th of Feb- 
ruary, a number of lights were seen round the 
stack of straw by three cavalry soldiers of the regi- 
ment called Borbone, Pasquale de S. Angelo of the 
diocese of Atri and Penne, Giuseppe Lanzano, and 
Angelo Di Costanzo of Acerra^, who were all exam- 
ined before the Archiepiscopal court. These de- 
posed before Monsignor the Vicar-General, that as 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 2^1 

they were riding round the royal villa of Caserta^ 
where his majesty the king then resided^ they saw 
on the pro]3erty above mentioned ^' several lights 
like shining stars/' These are the very words of 
the soldiers^ as taken down in the process. 

Moreover, on the same evening of the 26th, Sig- 
ner D. Ferdinando Haam, a gentleman of Prague 
in Bohemia, Chancellor and Secretary for letters to 
the Embassy of his Imperial and Eoyal Apostolic 
Majesty, was returning from the city of Caserta at 
about nine at night, along the Strada Eegia near to 
the above-mentioned property : he got down from 
his carriage to go and see the place where he had 
heard the stolen particles had been found two days 
before. On arriving there he found many persons, 
and among them the priest D. Giuseppe Lindtner, 
with whom he was acquainted, who told him the 
whole history, both of the sacrilege and of the mi- 
raculous discovery of the particles. Signer Haam, 
after having heard the priest, related that he also, 
eight or nine days before, on the 17th or 18th of 
the month, not having then heard either of the par- 
ticles that had been stolen or of the lights that had 
been seen^ was passing by this place about nine at 
night, and that he saw '^ a great number of lights 
amounting to about a thousand,'' and at the same 
time a number of persons who were standing in 
silence and with devotion round the lights. Being 
much frightened at what he saw, he asked the 



272 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

driver what those lights were ; he replied, ^^ that 
perhaps they were accompanying the Most Holy 
Viaticum to some sick person/' ^^No/' replied 
Signer Haam, ^^ that cannot be, otherwise we should 
at least hear the bells/' Hence he suspected that 
these lights were the effect of some diabolical sor- 
cery, and so much the more as the horse had 
stopped, and would not go on a step ; he, therefore, 
made the driver get down, but it was impossible to 
make the horse go on, it trembled all over and 
foamed at the mouth. At length, after many at- 
tempts, the horse, drawn away as by force out of 
the road which led to the ground, set off with such 
speed that the driver cried out: ^^0 Jesus ! what 
will come of this V And so Signer D. Ferdinando 
returned to Naples seized with great fear. He him- 
self deposed the whole of this in the Archiepiscopal 
Court, as may be read in the process, page 60, &c. 
On the evening of Thursday, the 27th, at about 
7 o'clock, Giuseppe Orefice and Carlo Marotta went 
to the place where was the stack of straw, which 
they found had been burned by the priests D. Giro- 
lamo Guarino and Giuseppe Lindtner, in order that 
they might more easily search for the missing par- 
ticles : they found also Giuseppe Piscopo, Carmine 
Esposito, and Palmiero Novello, prostrate on the 
ground and weeping, because they had seen a little 
light appearing and then disappearing before them 
several times. When Orefice heard this, he knelt 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 273 

down^ and began to recite the acts of faith, hope 
and charity : when he had finished he returned with 
the others to see what the light was, which, accord- 
ing to the deposition of Orefice, rose up about four 
fingers from the earth, and then disappeared as it 
were in the ground. After this^ having put a mark 
over the place where the light had appeared, so as 
not to be mistaken, Orefice and Marotta went to in- 
form the priest D. Grirolamo Guarino, who came 
immediately to the place and found many persons 
kneeling there : he began to search with care about 
the ground on which the mark had been placed. 

At this moment many persons again saw the 
light ; and Guarino, who did not see it, made the 
sign of the cross upon the ground, and ordered his 
brother Giuseppe to scoop out the earth on which 
the stack of straw had stood, on the left of the 
cross, with a pick-axe which he had in his hand ; 
but he found nothing. However, just as they were 
thinking of digging in another part, Giuseppe Ore- 
fice, who was on his knees all the time, put his hand 
on the ground, and finding that it was soft and 
yielding^ mentioned it to the Kev. Guarino, who, 
taking a knife from his brother, stuck it into the 
ground, on the spot which had been marked w^th 
the cross ; and when it was at its depth, he heard a 
noise as if several hosts united together were broken. 
He drew the knife out of the ground, and with it a 
little ball of earth, to which he saw many particles 



274 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

were attached. Struck witli fear at what he saw^ 
he cried out in astonishment : ^^ Oh^ oh, oh !" and 
then fainted away ; so that, as he himself deposed, 
his sight failed him, and, losing all power over him- 
self, the knife, with the ball of earth and the parti- 
cles, fell from his hand. 

As soon as Quarino recovered his senses, he j)ut 
the particles in a white linen handkerchief, covered 
them up, and laid them in the hole in which they 
had been found ; for, on account of the trembling 
which had come over him, and especially in the 
arms, he was not able to stand upright. The parish 
priest, being informed of what had happened, came 
quickly to the spot, where he found all kneeling be- 
fore this hidden treasure ; and having taken better 
information of the event, he went back to his church, 
and sent a canopy, veil, a number of wax-tapers, 
and a chalice, in which the sacred particles were 
put. The assistants spread the veil over a little 
table covered with silk^ on which the Blessed Sacra- 
ment reposed ; round this a number of persons knelt 
with lighted torches, and many people arrived, not 
only from the town, but also from the surrounding 
villages, Avith their priests ; all of whom shed tears 
of tender devotion. In the meantime the priest 
Lindtner and Signer Giuseppe Guarino went off to 
find Monsignor the Vicar-General, and returned 
about ten o'clock, with orders to carry in procession 
the particles that had been found, to the parish 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 275 

church of S. Pietro a Paterno. They did so, and 
along the way they all sang, praising and thank- 
ing Almighty God. As soon as they arrived at the 
church, benediction was given with the chalice, in 
the midst of the tears and cries of devotion of the 
whole people, who could not leave off weeping and 
thanking the Lord for the great consolation they 
had received. 

We read in the history of olden times of many 
such like prodigies in confirmation of the truth of 
the most Holy Sacrament. I myself, in my History 
of Heresies^ have related many examples on this 
matter in the time of the impious Wicklifife, who 
was the first of modern heretics to deny the truth 
of this venerable Sacrament. At that time Al- 
mighty God was pleased to work many miracles to 
confound their incredulity, which I have inserted in 
the book just mentioned (chap. n. 36, 37). Never- 
theless, there are not wanting certain critical spi- 
rits who altogether refuse to believe these ancient 
accounts, and say^ ^^ But who saw them?" Now, 
if such a one should doubt the fact which I have 
now related, and which was proved with such exact- 
ness in the Archiepiscopal court of Naples, he can 
easily certify himself of the truth of it by going to 
the town of S. Pietro a Paterno^ which is not far 
from the city^ where^ he will find many lay persons 
and ecclesiastics who will assure him that they be- 
held, with their own eyes, the prodigies here re- 
lated. 



276 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

For the rest, let others say what they please ; for 
my own part I hold the fact to be more than certain^ 
and therefore I wished to make it known by pub- 
lishing an account of it. It is true that the mira- 
cle here described does not call for any other than 
mere human faith ; nevertheless, of all such facts 
grounded on human faith^ I do not know if there 
be one that is more deserving of belief than this 
that I have related, considering the extreme care 
with which the information was taken by the Nea- 
politan court, and the evidence, not of credulous 
women, but of seventeen men, lay and ecclesiastics, 
who judicially deposed on oath all that they had 
seen with their own eyes. All these circumstances^, 
which are so many marks of truths make the fact 
more than morally certain. Hence I hope that all 
those who read this account will not be disinclined 
to believe it, but will do what they can to make it 
known for the glory of the Most Holy Sacrament af 
the Altar. 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 277 



CHAP TEE XV. 

THE MOST HOLY SACRIFICE OF THE MASS. 

BEFOEE speaking of the Most Holy Sacrifice of 
the Mass, I must first explain to you what is 
meant by sacrifice. A sacrifice or oblation, in its 
most general sense, is anything that is offered to 
God. In this sense, a sacrifice may consist of the 
internal motions of the hearty as Holy Scripture for 
instance, calls a contrite heart '^ a sacrifice to God.'' 
But, in its strict sense, a sacrifice is an offering to 
God of some sensible object, to acknowledge, by 
the destruction or change of this object, the sove- 
reign power of God, and His absolute dominion 
over all creatures, as also to render Him the homage 
due to His Divine Majesty. 

All nations have agreed upon the propriety of 
making such oblations to the Being to Whom they 
give supreme honor. The Holy Scripture^ the most 
ancient of all histories, tells us that Cain and Abel 
offered sacrifices to God soon after the fall of our 
first parents. At the time of the deluge we find 
Noah offering clean animals to God, and the same 
was often done by Abraham and his posterity. 
24 



278 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

Now, how are we to account for so general an agree- 
ment of mankind about this mode of worshipping 
God? Reason alone must convince man of the ne- 
cessity of expressing, in some external way, his 
obligation of dependence on God. AVe are com- 
posed of soul and body, and as we know that God 
has a right to the services of both, we cannot be 
satisfied until we have given an adequate expres- 
sion to the emotions of our heart. It is not very 
probable, however, that natural reason dictated that 
particular species of oblation which has been in use 
amongst most nations : I mean animal sacrifice. 
For, although the sense of guilt, which has weighed 
upon all men ever since the fall of Adam, would 
naturally have suggested to them the necessity of 
some expiatory offering whenever they were about 
to approach God, yet we cannot see why they should 
have chosen to sacrifice an animal for that purpose. 
On the contrary, the off*ering to God of the life of a 
harmless creature, in expiation of the sins of men 
considered apart from Divine Revelation, would 
seem to be even absurd. It is, therefore, most 
probable, that God Himself instituted animal sac- 
rifice, in the beginning of the world, to foreshadow 
the meritorious sacrifice of Christ, and to give man 
a means of acknowledging his guilt. Now, domes- 
tic animals have been generally chosen for sacrifice, 
chiefly for two reasons ; first, because they stood in 
the nearest relation to man, and consequently were 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 279 

the most fitting substitutes to bear the penalty 
which he had incurred ; and secondly, because, by 
their gentleness and innocence, they served to rep- 
resent the meek and spotless Lamb of God. How- 
ever, this original revelation concerning animal 
sacrifice, of which we find traces among all na- 
tions, became very much corrupted in the course of 
time. Supposing that that which they loved and 
prized the most would be the most acceptable ofifer- 
ing to God, men went at last so far as to sacrifice their 
fellow-men, nay, even the lives of their own chil- 
dren. Of course such sacrifices were in the highest 
degree hateful in the sight of God. In order, there- 
fore, to teach men how to worship Him properly, 
the Lord chose a particular people, to whom He 
gave express and minute directions about the sacri- 
fices that they were to offer. This was the Jewish 
nation. Out of this nation He chose a particular 
familv — the familv of Aaron — who were to offer 
Him sacrifice. These sacrifices ordained by God 
were of various kinds ; off'erings of adoration, offer- 
ings of impetration, sin-offerings, and thanksgiving 
offerings. In some of these sacrifices the victim 
was only partially consumed by fire, while in 
others it was entirely consumed. The latter were 
called holocausts or burnt-offerings. This system 
of worship lasted until the coming of our Saviour. 
It was then abolished, because all these sacrifices 
were^ in themselves, utterly incapable of appeasing 



280 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

the wrath of God. They were meritorious merely 
because they prefigured the death of Christ ; conse- 
quently^ after that event, these sacrifices became 
entirely unmeaning and worthless. Ever since the 
death of Christ there has been no bloody sacrifice, 
for the death of our Lord was the true propitiation 
for the sins of the world. 

The Prophet, however, expressly foretold the in- 
stitution of a new kind of sacrifice, a real sacrifice, 
though an unbloody one, which was to succeed the 
abrogated sacrifices of the Old Law, and to be of- 
fered unceasingly in every part of the world. The 
passage to which I allude is very remarkable ; it is 
from the prophet Malachy, i. 10 : '^ I have no plea- 
sure in you, saith the Lord of Hosts,'' addressing 
the Jewish people, ^^ and I will liot receive a gift of 
your hand, for, from the rising of the sun even to 
the going down. My name is great among the Gen- 
tiles : and in every place there is sacrifice, and 
there is offered to My name a clean oblation : for 
My name is great among the Gentiles, said the 
Lord of Hosts.'' Here we have the promise that, 
when the Jewish sacrifices should have ceased, 
another and far more precious sacrifice should be of- 
fered, visible indeed like them, but unlike them 
possessed of an intrinsic sanctity, a sacrifice that 
was to be offered from the rising to the setting of 
the sun ; a sacrifice that was to be offered in every 
place, even to the end of time. 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 281 

Now^ all these attributes are found^ and found 
only in the Catholic sacrifice of the Mass. This is 
so evident that all the Fathers of the Church, with 
one accord, interpret this passage as a clear proph- 
ecy of this most adorable sacrifice. It is a real 
sacrifice in the proper sense of the word, because 
our Lord is not only really present in the conse- 
crated host, but He also truly ofiers Himself to His 
heavenly Father. It is not, however, a bloody 
sacrifice, because our Lord is not really slain in the 
Mass, His death is merely represented in a mystical 
manner by the separation and destruction of the 
species. According to some of the Holy Fathers, 
the word Mass is derived from the Latin word 
^^ missa" or '^missio,'' which signifies a '^send- 
ing,'' because God sends His well-beloved Son to be 
our victim, and the priest sends Him back to the 
Eternal Father as our ransom and our intercessor. 
But you may ask, does it not argue a want of per- 
fection in the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross to con- 
tinue thus to offer Himself in the Mass ? By no 
means. The sacrifice of the Mass is the same that 
was offered on the Cross^ the only difference being 
in the manner of offering. The victim is the same 
in both — it is Jesus Christ, the true Lamb of God, 
really slain on the Cross, mystically slain in the 
Mass ; the priest, too, is the same, it is Jesus Christ, 
the true High Priest, Who offered Himself imme- 
dmtehj on the Cross, and Who offers Himself medi- 
24* 



282 THE BLESSED EUCHAKIST 

ately by the ministry of His priests in the Mass. 
In itself^ the sacrifice which our Saviour offered on 
the Cross is of infinite value^ and it is more than 
sufficient for our redemption. But of what use will 
it be to us J unless it is applied to our souls ? Of 
what use is it to a poor person to know that there 
is somewhere a sum sufficient for his ransom, if that 
sum be not really given to him ? Cardinal Hosius 
gives a beautiful illustration of this truth. " Sup- 
pose/' he says, '^that there were, in a certain city, 
a large fountain of water, sufficient to supply the 
wants of all the inhabitants. Suppose that this 
fountain was situated in the centre of the city, and 
entirely open to all, will the mere fact of the exist- 
ence of such a fountain be sufficient to supply every- 
body' s wants? Must not every one that stands in 
need of this water either draw it himself or have it 
brought to him by some means or other ? Now, 
there is a fountain of living water flowing from the 
open side of Jesus Christ ; it is a never-failing foun- 
tain ; a copious fountain, sufficient, and more than 
sufficient, to wash away the sins of the whole world, 
and to impart life to all the children of men. In 
order, however^ that we may experience the won- 
derful virtue of this living water, it must be applied 
to our souls. Now, Jesus Christ has established 
certain channels through which the waters of His 
grace come to us. Baptism is one of these chan- 
nels ; the daily Sacrifice, which we call Mass, is 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 283 

another. By this sacrifice, the fruit of the sacrifice 
accomplished on the Cross, and the precious blood 
there shed for us, are applied to our souls. How 
unjustly, then, do the Protestant ministers reproach 
us with obscuring the sacrifice of the Cross by our 
daily sacrifice of the Altar ! Would it not be ab- 
surd to say that, to desire baptism, and to place 
one's confidence in water instead of in the blood of 
the Eedeemer, would be to disparage the merits of 
Christ? Now, just as absurd is it to say that we, 
by our daily sacrifice, obscure the glory of the sac- 
rifice of the Cross, and detract from its dignity, 
since we, by this very means, only participate in 
the sacrifice of the Cross and make it available to 
our salvation.'' (Confessio Cathol. Fidei in Synodo 
Petriconensi, c. 41., fol. 94.) 

Moreover, our Divine Saviour instituted the sac- 
rifice of the Mass in order that His religion might 
not be wanting in what even the Jewish religion 
possessed, a continual sacrifice, and that we might 
have an adequate means to worship Him properly. 
The sacrifice of the Mass^ therefore, far from dero- 
gating from the sacrifice of the Cross, only brings 
it nearer to us, and renews and extends its effects in 
a wonderful manner. 

Our Blessed Lord instituted this sacrifice of the 
Mass at the Last Supper. On the very night in which 
He was betrayed, He changed bread and wine into 
His Body and Blood, and gave to the Apostles and to 



284 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

their successors, the power to do the same in com- 
memoration of Him. In obedience to the com- 
mands of our Lord, the Apostles frequently offered 
up the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, as we see from 
the Acts of the Apostles (Chap. ii. 42,) and from 
the writings of the Fathers of the Church, espe- 
cially of St. Ignatius, Martyr, and St. Clement, 
both disciples of the Apostles. Tlie v/ooden altar, 
on which St. Peter and the succeeding Popes, down 
to St. Sylvester, used to say Mass, is still preserved 
at Kome. St. Matthew, the Apostle, was pierced 
with a lance in the very act of saying Mass. When 
St. Andrew, the Apostle, was required by the ty- 
rant Aegeas, to sacrifice to the gods^ if he wished 
to escape the punishment of the cross, he replied : 
^^ I daily offer up on the altar to the only true 
and Almighty God, the Immaculate Lamb, which, 
though it is consumed, remains always living and 
entire. And, indeed, St. Paul expressly declares, 
in the Epistle to the Hebrews : ^^ We have an altar, 
whereof they have no right to eat, who serve the 
tabernacle,'' (Heb. xiii. 10.) An altar implies a 
sacrifice, since an altar is used only for sacrifice. 
Now, as there is no other sacrifice in the Christian 
religion than that of the Eucharist, it follows that 
the altar, of which the Apostle speaks, must have 
been an altar for saying Mass. The Fathers of the 
Church commonly speak of the Mass as '^ a salutary 
sacrifice.'' St. Cyprian, in the third century^ calls 



OUR GREATESr TREASURE. 285 

it '^ an everlasting sacrifice/' (Lib. de coena.) St. 
Augustine^ in the fourth century, declares it to be 
^^ a'true and august sacrifice, and that it has sup- 
planted all former sacrifices.'' (De Civit. Dei. cap. 
XX.) But no one has spoken of the subject in more 
sublime'terms than St. John Chrysostom : ^'0 won- 
der !" he exclaims in his Homily ' De Sacra Men- 
sa/ ^' At this table, so magnificently furnished, 
the Lamb of God is immolated for thee ; there the 
Cherubim are present ; there the Seraphim attend ; 
there all the Angels join with the priest in praying 
for thy welfare." 

And again, in his book, ^''De Sacrificio,'' (Lib. 
iii.) he says : '' When thou beholdest the Lord im- 
molated and lying upon the altar, and the priest 
bending over the sacrifice and praying, and all the 
assistants reddened with that precious bloody dost 
thou think that thou art still on earth ? Does it 
not rather seem to thee that thou art wrapt into 
Paradise, and beholding, with the eye of thy soul, 
the things that are done in heaven?" In his 
eighty-third Homily he says : " How surpassingly 
pure ought he to be who offers such a sacrifice ? 
Ought not the hand that divides this sacred flesh — 
the mouth that is filled with this spiritual fire — the 
tongue that is dyed with this most sacred blood be 
purer than thejight of the sun ? Think how thou 
art honored, to what a banquet thou art admitted ! 
That, before which the Angels tremble and veil 



286 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

their faces, is our food ; we are united to Christ ; 
we are made one body and one flesh with Him !'' 
^^ Who shall declare the power of the Lord and set 
forth all His praises ?" 

These passages give us a very exalted idea of the 
dignity and value of the sacrifice of the Mass^ and 
yet they fall far short of the reality. Indeed, if 
all the learned and saintly men that ever lived, or 
ever will live, were to unite with the Angels and 
Saints of heaven, and with the Blessed Mother of 
God herself, and were each to strive, to the utmost 
of his power, to set forth the dignity of the Mass, 
they would all be unable to praise it worthily. 

None of the Doctors of the Church has written 
so fully and profoundly on this subject as St. Thomas 
Aquinas^ and our Lord Himself commended him 
for his efforts to explain and illustrate it ; but even 
he did not receive the praise of having written wor- 
thily on the subject ; our Lord only said to him : 
^^ Thomas, hene de me scripsisti^'' — ^^ Thomas, thou 
hast w^ritten well, not worthily, concerning Me.'' 
Nay, if our Lord Himself were to appear to us and 
to describe the greatness of the Mass, we should 
not be able to understand Him, for the Mass is in- 
finite in dignity, since it is God Himself Who is 
the priest and victim. St. Chrysostom was, there- 
fore, right in applying to this glorious mystery the 
words of the Psalmist: ^^ Who shall declare the 
power of the Lord and set forth all His praises V^ 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 287 

But, besides the great dignity of the Mass, there 
is another reason for which we should esteem this 
holy sacrifice, it is its great utility. 

Mass is, in the first place^ a sacrifice of adora- 
tion ; secondly, a sacrifice of thanksgiving ; thirdly, 
it is a sacrifice of propitiation ; and fourthly, a sac- 
rifice of impetration. I said, in the first place, 
that the Holy Mass is a sacrifice of adoration, that 
is to say, a sacrifice by which we render to Grod a 
worship corresponding to His greatness. It is evi- 
dent, that we are bound to worship God, for even 
our reason tells us that honor should be given to 
whom honor is due. We usually honor men ac- 
cording to their rank and acquirements. We honor 
a man of learning, for instance, more than an igno- 
rant rustic ; a saint more than a sinner ; a prince 
more than a peasant ; a priest more than a layman. 
Now, God is infinite in all His perfections, and con- 
sequently desires supreme honor and reverence. He 
alone is^ as the Holy Scripture says, ^' Blessed and 
Mighty, the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords ; 
Who alone hath Immortality and inhabiteth Light 
inaccessible ; Whom no man hath seen nor can see: 
to Whom be honor and empire everlasting.'' Now, 
how are we to render to God the honor that is due 
to Him ? I have said already, that sacrifice was the 
mode by which we acknowledge the supreme sove- 
reignty of God ; but w^here shall we find a sacrifice 
pure and precious enough to be offered to His Ma- 



288 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

jesty? It is plain that we, finite creatures, have 
nothing of ourselves great enough to offer Him ; 
even the sacrifice of our lives would be an inade- 
quate homage. '^ What, then, shall we offer to 
the Lord that is worthy? Wherewith shall we 
kneel before the high God ?" (Micheas vi. 6.) 

Almighty God Himself has furnished us with an 
offering, as He declared one day to one of His ser- 
vants, who was burning with love for Him, and 
with an ardent desire to honor Him. ^^ 0," said 
this fervent soul, ^^I would that I had a thousand 
tongues, that I might praise God always ! 0, that 
I had hearts without number wherewith to love 
Him ! 0, that the whole world were mine that I 
might see Him loved and served by all men V 
''My daughter," replied an inward voice, ^^thy 
zeal and love are extremely pleasing to Me ; but 
know, that I am more honored by a single Mass 
than by all the honors that thou couldst ever con- 
ceive or desire/' The reason of this is plain. The 
victim, v/hich is offered to God in the Mass, is our 
Lord Jesus Christ Himself, the well-beloved Son of 
His Father, equal to Him in all things ; and, there- 
fore, this sacrifice must be of infinite dignity and 
value. In this sacrifice we offer to the Eternal 
Father all the honor which Jesus Christ gives Him, 
and thereby make up for our natural poverty. 
Hence Father Paul Segneri well says in his ^^Homo 
Chrisiianus,'' (p. 1. diss. 12) : '' If, on the one hand, 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 289 

the Blessed Mother of God, and all the Saints and 
Angels of heaven, were to prostrate themselves be- 
fore God in the deepest humility and reverence, and 
on the other hand, the humblest priest on earth were 
to offer but one Mass, the offering of the priest 
would give more honor to God than the united ado- 
ration of all those Angels and Saints. 

In the second place, we need a sacrifice of thanks- 
giving, for we are bound to return thanks to God 
for all the benefits He has bestowed on us. How 
many blessings have we not received from God? 
creation, preservation and all the blessings of His 
Providence ; redemption by vocation to the true 
faith ; the grace of repentance, deliverance from 
hell, the promise of heaven, the Sacraments, holy 
inspirations, the examples and intercession of the 
Saints. What a debt of gratitude do we owe for so 
many favors? Solomon, the wise man, requires us 
to ^' give to the Most High according to what He 
has given to us.'' (Eccl. xxxv. 12.) But what can 
we render to God for all that He has done for us ? 
We cannot pray always ; we cannot, like David, 
compose a whole book of inspired hymns in praise 
of God's wonderful dealings with us ; and even if 
we could^ our thanksgiving would be insufficient 
and unworthy of God. Now God, in His mercy, 
has given the devout soul a means of paying this 
immense debt of gratitude. The Mass is a Eucha- 
ristic sacrifice, that is to say, a sacrifice of thanks- 
25 



290 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

giving. Jesus Christ has left us Himself to be 
offered therein by way of thanksgiving to His hea- 
venly Father.* He gives thanks to the Eternal 
Father for us^ and thus we are enabled to return to 
God even more than we have received from Him. 
Two pious souls were one day discoursing about the 
graces they had received from God. One of them 
complained of her inability to give due thanks to 
God for all she had received ; the other smiled and 
said : ^^I give to God every day more than I ever 
received from Him.'' This answer naturally sur- 
prised the former, and she asked how this was pos- 
sible. ^^Oh/' replied the latter, ^^I go to Mass 
every day and offer up Jesus Christ to my heavenly 
Father for all the graces He has bestowed upon me ; 
and Jesus Christ, the well-beloved Son of God, is 
certainly of greater worth than all the benefits 
which I have ever received, or ever will receive.'' 

In the third place, the Mass is a propitiatory sac- 
rifice, that is to say, a sacrifice by which God is 
intended to forgive us our sins, and to remit the 
temporal punishments due to them. Such a sacri- 
fice is very necessary, for we are bound not only to 

*NoTE. — It is a doctrine of the Catholic Church, that Mass can be 
offered to God alone. This is indeed implied in the very nature of a 
sacrifice. When, therefore, Catholics speak of the Mass of such and 
such a Saint, or of offering Mass in honor of a Saint, they mean a 
Mass offered to God in thanksgiving for the graces bestowed on that 
Saint, or for the graces obtained through his intercession. 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 291 

adore and thank God, but also to beg of Him new 
graces. JSTow, the most important grace that we 
can ask of God is the pardon of our sins. Sin is 
an offence against the Majesty of God. Now, were 
all the men that ever lived to unite^ they could not 
repair the outrage that is done to God by one venial 
sin. Hence^ Almighty God, Who is in a certain 
sense infinitely offended by sin, instituted the sacri- 
fice of Mass by which an infinite satisfaction is 
continually rendered to Him. The Council of Trent 
declares (sess. 12, c. 1) that the same Jesus Christ 
Who offered Himself up on the cross for the sins of 
the whole world, is daily offered up by the priest in 
the Holy Mass. The sacrifice of the Mass is the 
same as the sacrifice of Calvary, the only difference 
being that on the cross He really suffered and shed 
His blood in a visible manner, while in the Mass 
He offers Himself without suffering, and sheds His 
blood in a mystical manner. Our sins, indeed, are 
not directly and immediately remitted by the Mass^ 
but Almighty God is moved by this mystical sacri- 
fice to impart to us the fruits of the meritorious 
Death and Passion of Christ, especially the grace of 
a true sorrow for our sins. The Council of Trent 
says (sess. 22, c. 3) that God, appeased by the sac- 
rifice of the Mass, forgives even the most enormous 
sins by granting to the sinner the grace of doing 
penance for them. The Holy sacrifice of Mass, 
then, obtains for us the grace to do penance for our 



292 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

sins. Without doubt it is to this efficacy of the 
Mass that we must attribute the less frequent occur- 
rence in later times of those terrible punishments 
which God formerly inflicted on the wicked. The 
whole world was once destroyed by a deluge on ac- 
count of sin. Seventy thousand men fell victims to 
a pestilence sent by God to punish the vanity of 
King David. Fifty thousand of the Bethsamites 
were punished with death for the irreverent curiosity 
with which they gazed upon the Ark of the Cove- 
nant. Why are there so few instances of such pun- 
ishments since the coming of Jesus Christ ? Sin 
has lost none of its inherent wickedness ; on the 
contrary, it has become much more malicious by 
reason of the more abundant graces of God. The 
holy Fathers tell us that, without doubt, it is be- 
cause, in all countries, and at all times, every hour, 
Jesus Christ is offered up by the priests of the 
Catholic Church, and the hands of God are bound. 
The voice of the blood of the Lamb of God prevails 
over the sins which cry to heaven for vengeance, 
and benedictions descend where punishments are 
due. How could it be otherwise ? 

Through the blood of Christ, visibly shed on the 
cross, the dying malefactor obtained the grace of 
conversion. Now, why should not they receive the 
same grace who, with a good will, assist at Mass, 
where the same blood is shed in a mystical manner? 
Will God the Father refuse to grant us true contri- 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 293 

tion for our sins when we offer Him the blood of 
His beloved Son Jesus Christ in satisfaction for 
them, and beseech Him, by the merits of this blood, 
to have mercy on us ? A nobleman, named Al- 
phonsus Albuquerque was once on the point of be- 
ing shipwrecked. He had given himself up for 
lost ; but happening to see a child crying near him, 
he took it into his arms, and raising it towards hea- 
ven, he exclaimed : '' Lord, if I do not deserve to 
be heard, at least hear the cries of this innocent 
babe and save us.'' No sooner had he uttered these 
words than the storm subsided, and he was saved. 
Let us imitate his example. We are in peril ; we 
have offended God and are in danger of losing our 
immortal souls. Must we despair ? No ; let us 
offer to God the Divine Infant in the Mass, and say : 
'^Lord, we have grievously sinned against Thee, 
and are undeserving of pardon ; but look upon the 
sufferings of this Thine innocent Son, and have 
mercy on us !" This is what St. Anselm exhorts 
us to do. He savs that Jesus Christ, desirous to 
save us from eternal death, encourages us all, and 
says : ^^Fear not, sinner, if, by your sins you 
have made yourself the slave of hell, and are una- 
ble to deliver yourself, offer Me to My Eternal 
Father, and you shall escape death.'' And the 
Mother of God gave the same advice to Sister 
Frances Farnese. She put the Infant Jesus into 
her arms and said : '^ Behold, here is my Son ; en- 
25^ 



294 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

deavor to save your soul by offering Him frequently 
to God." Besides, the remission of the eternal 
punishment due to sin, we also obtain, by the holy 
sacrifice of the Mass, the remission of the temporal 
punishment. This grace we obtain in proportion 
to our good dispositions. On this account^ the 
Saints, who have always been desirous to render to 
God a full satisfaction for their sins, have made it a 
point to hear as many Masses as possible. St. Mar- 
garet of Cortona^ reflecting on her many grievous 
sins, and wishing to atone for them, went once to 
her confessor and asked him what was the best 
way for her to make satisfaction to God for her sins. 
He told her that the easiest way was to hear as 
many Masses as possible. From that time forward 
she was very careful to assist at all the Masses she 
possibly could. 

There is still another way in which the Mass is 
beneficial to us. We need not only forgiveness of 
sins, but also numberless other blessings both for 
soul and body. By the sacrifice of the Mass we can 
obtain all these favors. Mass is also SiJiimpetratory 
sacrifice. St. Porphyrus, Bishop of Gaza, was once 
going to Constantinople to ask a favor of the empe- 
ror Arcadius. On his way he met the servants of 
the emperor carrying with ihem his infant son, 
Theodosius. The holy man immediately drew near 
and placed his petition in the hands of the young 
prince. The emperor, agreeably surprised at this 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 295 

singular artifice of the bishop, readily granted his 
petition through love for the little bearer. (Schmid's 
Historical Catechism.) We must adopt a similar 
means, in order to obtain favors from God. We 
need numberless and continual blessings of Provi- 
dence ; blessings on our daily labors ; strength to 
resist sin and to bear patiently the manifold trials 
and contradictions of this life ; steadfastness in 
faith, hope and charity. Now, in the Mass, Jesus 
Christ, the Son of God, is ever ready to carry up 
our desires to the throne of His heavenly Father. 
Let us, then^ with confidence, charge Him* with our 
petitions, and let us rest assured that His heavenly 
Father will, for His sake, grant us all we ask. 
There are innumerable examples of the efficacy of 
the Mass in obtaining from God every possible 
grace. 

St. Augustine relates (De civitate Dei Lib. IL c. 
8,) that the house of a man, named Hesperius, was 
dreadfully disturbed, day and night, by evil spirits. 
But no sooner had Mass been celebrated in it than 
all the disturbance ceased, and nothing of the kind 
ever occurred there afterwards. St. Gregory relates 
that, on certain days, the fetters used to fall from 
the hands of a Christian captive Avho had been 
taken prisoner by the barbarians, and after his de- 
liverance, he found out that, on those days, his rela- 
tives had off'ered Mass for him. In the life of St. 
John the Almoner, an instructive narrative is told 



296 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

of two tradesmen, Peter and John, one of whom 
had a large family to support, while the other had 
to provide only for himself and his wife. Peter, 
although he was accustomed to hear Mass every day^ 
managed to maintain his family very comfortably, 
while John could scarcely gain a subsistence, al- 
though he labored so hard that he very seldom found 
time to hear Mass, and was sometimes even obliged 
to work on holy-days of obligation. One day John 
asked his more prosperous neighbor how it happened 
that, with so large and helpless a family, he always 
managed to live comfortably, while he himself and 
his wife were always in want, although he worked 
day and night. Peter promised to show him the place 
where he always found everything he needed. Next 
morning he called on John and led him to the 
church, where they both heard Mass. After Mass, 
Peter took leave of him and went home. He did 
the same the next day ; but upon his calling the 
third day for the same purpose, his friend said : ^' If 
I had wished to go to Mass, I would not have needed 
you to lead me there, as I know the way myself; 
what I wanted was to know where you find your 
wealth, that I also might become rich.'' '' I know 
noplace,'' answered the pious tradesman, ''where 
there is so much to be obtained for this world and 
for the next as in the Church ;" and in proof of 
what he said, he added the words of our Lord : 
*' Seek ye, therefore, first the kingdom of God and 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 29*7 

His justice, and all these things shall be added unto 
you." (Matt. vi. 33.) John immediately under- 
stood the good lesson which his friend wished to 
teach him^ and, enlightened by the Holy Ghost, he 
resolved to change his life and to hear Mass every 
day. He did so. In a very short time he found him- 
self greatly improved temporally and spiritually. 

In the year 817, the Danes invaded England, and 
Ethelred, the king of England, having collected a 
small army, went out to meet them. But trusting 
more in the protection of God than in the valor of 
his arms, he went first to hear Mass. While he 
was assisting at Mass, messengers came to tell him 
that the Danes were at hand, and that he must pre- 
pare immediately for battle ; but he answered that 
he would not go until he had received his Saviour 
in Holy Communion. He stayed in the church till 
Mass was over^ and then went forth to attack his 
-enemies. After a short conflict he succeeded in put- 
ting them to flight. (Baronius.) 

One day, as St. Bernard was about to say Mass 
in the church of St. Ambrose at Milan, the people 
brought to the church a lady of high rank, who 
had been sick for many years. She had lost her 
sight, her hearing and her speech, and her tongue 
had become so long that it protruded out of her 
mouth. St. Bernard having exhorted the people to 
join him in praying for her, began to celebrate Mass^ 
a,nd as often as he made the sisrn of the cross over 



298 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

the host, he made it over the sick woman also. As 
soon as he had broken the host and said: ''Pax 
Domini sit semper vobiscum/' she was instantly 
cured. The people, filled with joy and astonish- 
ment, began to ring the bells, and soon the whole 
city hastened to the church to witness the miracle 
and to give thanks to God. (Life of St. Bernard.) 

St. Philip Neri used to have recourse to the sacri- 
fice of the Mass in all matters of importance. By 
means of this holy sacrifice he succeeded in con- 
verting many Jews and heretics. 

We see from these examples the great power of 
the Mass as an impetratory sacrifice, and that it is 
not in vain that the priest prays that through it 
^^ we may be filled with every heavenly blessing and 
grace.'' But I have yet one more grace to speak of 
which we can obtain through this sacrifice. The 
Mass is a very efficacious means of obtaining relief 
for the souls in purgatory. This is the common 
doctrine of the Fathers. St. Jerome says that by 
every Mass, not only one, but several souls are 
delivered from purgatory, and (apud Bern, de Busto, 
Serm. 3 de Missa.) he is of opinion that the soul for 
which the priest says Mass suffers no pain at all 
while the holy sacrifice lasts. The Fathers of the 
Council of Trent declare that, by the sacrifice of 
the Mass, the souls in purgatory are most effica- 
ciously relieved. This was clearly the belief of St. 
Monica, the mother of St. Augustine, when she 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 299 

replied on her death-bed to her son's inquiries con- 
cerning her place of burial. '^ Bury me/' said she^ 
^' wherever you please ; all that I ask of you is to re- 
member me at the altar of the Lord.'' In the time 
of St. Bernard, a monk of Clairvaux appeared^, 
after his death, to his brethren in religion to thank 
them for having delivered him from purgatory. On 
being asked what had contributed most to ftee him 
from his torments, he led the inquirer to the church 
where a priest was saying Mass. ^^ Look," said he, 
^^ this is the means by which my deliverance has 
been eifected ; this is the power of God's mercy ; 
this is the salutary sacrifice which takes away the 
sins of the world." Indeed, so great is the efficacy 
of this sacrifice to obtain relief for the souls in pur- 
gatory, that the application of all the good works 
which have been performed from the beginning of 
the world would not afford so much assistance to 
one of these souls as would be imparted by a single 
Mass. I will illustrate this by an example drawn 
from the history of St. Dominic. The Blessed 
Henry Suso made an agreement with one of his 
brethren in religion that as soon as one of them died 
the survivor should say two Masses every. week, for 
one year, for the repose of his soul. It came to 
pass that the religious with whom Henry had 
made this contract died first. Henry prayed every 
day for his deliverance from purgatory, but forgot 
to say the Masses which he had promised. The 



300 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

deceased appeared to liim with a sad countenance^ 
and sharply rebuked him for his unfaithfulness ta 
his engagement. Henry excused himself by saying 
that he had often prayed for him with great fervor, 
and had even offered up penitential works for him. 
^^0; my brother/' exclaimed the soul, ^^ blood, 
blood is necessary to give me some relief and re- 
freshment in my excruciating torments. Thy peni- 
tential works, severe as they are, cannot deliver me. 
There is nothing that can do this but the blood of 
Jesus Christ, which is offered up in the sacrifice of 
the Mass. Masses, Masses, these are what I need.'' 
If, then, dear Christian, you wish to offer the 
Divine Majesty a fitting worship ; if you wish to 
thank Him as you ought for the innumerable bene- 
fits He has conferred on you ; if you wish to expiate 
the sins you have committed against Him ; if you 
wish to obtain for yourself and others all the bless- 
ings you need for soul and body ; if you wish to 
practise charity to the suffering souls in purgatory, 
you will find a suitable means to do all this in the 
sacrifice of the Mass. You have but to unite vour 
homage, your thanksgiving, your contrition, and 
your petitions to the four-fold offering which Jesus 
Christ therein makes for you ; you have but to offer to 
the Eternal Father the victim that is mystically im- 
molated on the altar, and your worship becomes in- 
finitely pleasing to Grod, and infinitely profitable to 
you. 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 301 

The Mass, hi itself, is, indeed, always of the same 
value, whether those wdio assist at it be devout or 
indevout ; but the fruit we derive from it is greater 
or less according to our dispositions. When our 
Lord offered His life on the cross as a sacrifice for 
the sins of the world, those who were present re- 
ceived the fruits of that sacrifice in very different 
degrees. Some received no grace at all, but went 
away as hardened as they had come, while others 
received great and special favors. The good thief 
obtained an entire remission of all his sins and of 
the punishment due to them ; St. Mary Magdalene 
rec^ved a large increase of sanctifying grace. So 
it is also at Mass. The Council of Trent says that 
God gives the grace of contrition and forgiveness of 
sins to those who assist at this sacrifice wdth a sin- 
cere heart, with faith and reverence. The same 
may be said of all other blessings ; — they are given 
more or less in proportion to the devotion and purity 
of intention of those who assist at Mass. In one of 
the prayers which the priest recites in the canon^ he 
says: '^ Be mindful, Lord^ of all here present, 
whose faith and i)iety are known to Thee.'' It fol- 
lows from this that one person may gain more 
graces from a single Mass than another would gain 
from twenty or thirty. When you go to the well ta 
draw water, you can only take as much as your ves- 
sel will hold ; if it be large, you can draw much 
'"water ; if it be small, you can draw but little.. 
26 



302 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

Now, the Mass is an inexhaustible fountain of bless- 
ings ; it is, to use the language of Scripture^ the 
Saviour's fountain^ from which the precious graces 
He has merited for us, gush forth upon our souls ; 
and the vessel in which we receive these graces are 
our faith and devotion. If our faith be lively and 
our devotion ardent, the blessings of heaven will 
fill our hearts ; if our hearts be filled wdtli the 
thoughts of this world, we shall receive but a small 
share of these blessings. All this was once shown 
in a vision to Nicholas de la Flue, a holy hermit of 
Switzerland, who was greatly enlightened by God 
in spiritual matters. While this good man was one 
day present at Mass, he saw a large tree full of the 
most beautiful flowers. He soon noticed that the 
flowers began to fall down upon those vvdio were 
present. But some of the flowers, as soon as they 
fell, became withered and dry_, while others retained 
their freshness and fragrance. After Mass, he re- 
lated this vision to his brother, and requested him 
to explain its meaning. The brother replied that 
he, too, had seen the vision, and he explained it as 
follows : ^^ The tree,'' said he, ^^ is the Holy Mass ; 
the beautiful flowers which it bears are the fruits of 
the Holy Mass ; the withering of many of the flow- 
ers signifies that many of the graces which our Lord 
distributes in the Mass are lost, because Christians 
are not recollected and devout while they assist at 
this sacrifice, or because they afterwards allow 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 303 

worldly thoughts to stifle all the good inspirations 
which they have received ; the flowers, which re- 
tained their odor and beauty, signify the permanent 
fruits which those Christians derive from the Mass 
who assist at it Avith reverence and devotion, and 
who, after having left the church, are still mindful 
of the great blessings which they have received 
from this holy sacrifice. (Dr. Herbst. vol. II. p. 
409.) 

After having seen of what great importance it is 
to hear Mass devoutly, you will not be surprised to 
learn that the devil makes every effort to distract 
Christians Avhile they are assisting at this holy sac- 
rifice. It has been often remarked that infidels and 
idolaters never behave disrespectfully at the sacri- 
fices which they offer to their false gods. Now^ 
this is not strange, for, as Picus Mirandola justly 
remarks, there is no reason why the devil should 
tempt them to irreverence since it is he himself who 
is honored by their superstitious ceremonies ; but as 
he knows how highly God is honored by the great 
sacrifice of the Christians, he does all in his power 
to kee]5 the faithful from church, or, at least, to 
make them indevout or irreverent when they are 
there. Once, when the .Israelites were fighting 
against the Philistines, and were on the point of 
being defeated, they had the Ark of the Covenant 
brought to the camp. As soon as it came, they all 
raised a great shout, so that the earth rang again. 



304 • THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

The Philistiijes heard the shout, and were struck 
with terror on learning that the God Who had done 
such wonderful things against the Egyptians was 
come into the camp of their enemies. '^ Woe, woe 
to us !'' they cried ; '' who shall deliver us from the 
hands of these high gods?'' However, driven to 
desperation by the greatness of their danger, they 
exhorted one another to fight manfully : '^ Let us 
take courage,'' they cried; ^^let us behave like 
men^. Philistines ! lest we become the servants of 
the Hebrews^ as they have served us. Let us take 
courage and fight bravely." (Kings iv. 5, 10.) In 
like manner, when the signal is given for beginning 
Mass, the great adversary of mankind is seized with 
rage and terror. ^^ Woe ! woe !" he cries, '^ what 
shall we do ! This is that sacrifice which every day 
snatches so many souls from our grasp ; this is the 
weapon with which Antony and Francis, and so 
many others, have defeated us and weakened our 
power. What shall we do !" Then, urged on by 
the rage he feels at his own impotence, he employs 
all his cunning to destroy at least some part of the 
good fruits of the Mass ; he prevents the sinner 
from escaping from his power by placing before him 
some dangerous object on which his eyes may rest ; 
he deprives the devout Christian of the strength and 
consolation which he would have received during 
Mass by filling his mind with vain thoughts and 
worldly cares, so that he cannot attend to what is 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 305 

going on ; and thus he gradually leads him into 
mortal sin. It is thus that, notwithstanding the 
presence of God on our altars and the infinite value 
of the sacrifice^ so many precious graces are lost 
during Mass. 

In order to reap all the fruits of the Mass^ you 
should unite your intention at the beginning with 
that of the priest Avho offers the Holy Sacrifice. 
You may do this briefly, thus : '^0, my Lord, I 
offer up to Thee this Sacrifice for the same ends for 
which Thou didst institute it, and for wdiich Thy 
priest now celebrates it, beseeching Thee to grant 
that the souls of the living as w^ell as the souls in 
purgatory may share in its fruits.'' After this you 
may spend the time of Mass in such prayers as your 
devotion may suggest. According to the Blessed 
Leonard of Port Maurice, it is a very good plan to 
divide the whole Mass into four parts, corresponding 
to the four principal -objects for which Mass is 
offered, tlmt is to say : to consider the Mass from 
the beginning to the Gospel, as a sacrifice of pro- 
pitiation ; from the Gospel to the elevation as a 
sacrifice of impetration ; from the elevation to the 
communion as a sacrifice of adoration ; and from 
the communion to the end as a sacrifice of thanks- 
giving. In the first part you will consider the 
holiness of God and the enormity of sin ; and be- 
wailing your offences, you can offer the Immaculate 
Lamb to the Father, and ask, in the name of that 
26* 



306 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

Immaculate Lamb, a more complete forgiveness of 
your sins and of the temporal punishment due to 
them^ and a more profound spirit of penance. In 
the second part, you can offer this sacrifice to obtain 
special graces from God for yourself and others ; 
pray for the welfare of Christendom, for the propa- 
gation of the Catholic faith, for the extirpation of 
heresy, for peace among Christian rulers, for grace 
to fight against your besetting sin ; and be not un- 
mindful of the poor souls in purgatory. In the 
third part, you will consider your own nothingness 
and God's greatness ; then offer up to Him the 
homage of His well-beloved Son^ and in union with 
this same sublime homage of Jesus Christ, offer up 
your own acts of adoration to the Heavenly Father. 
You can rejoice in His glory and desire, that all 
men should render Him due honor. In the fourth 
part, you may consider what God is in Himself, and 
what He is in His saints, ana offering to Him the 
thanksgiving which Jesus Christ mal^s in the 
Mass, you may add an affectionate oblation of your- 
self and of all you have, in return for the great 
mercies He has shown you. You may here make a 
special acknowledgment of the graces which the 
Lord has bestowed on the Blessed Virgin Mary, 
our Mother, and on your Angel Guardian ; or^ at 
the beginning of Mass, you may briefly make these 
intentions, and spend the rest of the time in medi- 
tating on the passion of Jesus Christ, or on some 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 307 

eternal truth ; or you may here make use of your 
Book of Devotions ; or you may say the Rosary of 
the Blessed Virgin. In case you say the Rosary, it 
is good, after the icord ^^ Jesus" in each Hail Mary, 
to add : '^ Who offers Himself in this sacrifice to 
His Heavenly Father.'' By these means the time 
of Mass will never seem irksome, and you will 
derive great fruit from the most holy sacrifice. 

After all these reflections on Mass, no one will 
find it strange if the holy Church obliges her chil- 
dren under pain of mortal sin to assist at this holy 
sacrifice on Sundays and festivals of obligation. On 
other days, it is true, the faithful are not bound to 
hear Mass, but our holy Mother, the Church, earn- 
estly washes that all her children should and would 
assist at this salutary sacrifice as often as possible. 
In most churches Mass is said every day, in some 
several times a day ; and wherever it is offered the 
pcQple are invited to assist. The good Catholic then 
will feel himself impelled always to assist at this 
holy sacrifice, unless an important reason prevents 
him from so doing. I could cite you many inter- 
esting examples which would show you how anxious 
pious Catholics have always been to hear Mass. St. 
Louis, King of France^ used to hear two Masses 
every day ; sometimes even three or four. Some of 
his courtiers murmured at this, but the King gave 
them a sharp reprimand, saying : ^'If I were to 
ask you to play, or to go hunting with me three or 



308 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

four times a day, you would find no time too long, 
and now you feel weary of staying in the ChurcK 
during one or two Masses for the honor of our Lord 
and Saviour/' (Raivenius in Annal. 1270^, No. 19.) 
In the time of Queen Elizabeth of England, when 
the severe prohibitions against the exercise of the 
Catholic religion were in force, a rich Catholic was 
condemned to pay five hundred scudi in gold for 
having dared to assist at Mass. The nobleman 
selected the brightest and most beautiful pieces of 
Portuguese gold, on which the cross was stamped. 
Presenting them to the officers, one of them, a Pro- 
testant, smiled and made some jocose remark with 
reference to the beauty of the coins. ''1 would 
have considered it a sort of sacrilege," said the 
Catholic, ^^to offer a baser coin to pay for the privi- 
lege of adoring my Saviour in the Blessed Sacrament. 
This cross," pointing to the crest on the piece, 
'^reminds me of the Cross of my Lord, whiclv I 
shall ever be willing to bear for His sake ; the purity 
of the gold recalls to my mind the purity of His 
love, which I shall ever seek and treasure up.'' 
(Schmidt's Example-book.) 

Gillois relates that in the beginning of the present 
century, there lived in Eoibon, a town in the diocese 
of Grenoble, a peasant, who by his great devotion 
at Mass, edified every one who saw him. He lived 
three miles from the church, and yet he never failed 
to be one of the first worshippers in the morning. 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 309 

In the latter years of his life, he was subject to se- 
vere pains in his legs, which prevented his walking 
60 far in the winter season, but as soon as the 
spring came on, he used to rise about one o'clock 
in the morning, and dragging himself by means of 
crutches, reached the church after a painful and 
laborious walk of four hours. 

Sir Thomas More, Martyr, and Chancellor of 
England, daily assisted at Mass wath the greatest 
reverence and devotion. On one occasion, while 
hearing Mass, he was sent for by the King, appa- 
rently on urgent business, but he did not stir ; soon 
after a second messenger came, and after a while a 
third, with the express command to leave the church 
immediately and come to the royal chamber, where 
the King awaited him, he replied : ^' I am now 
serving the Lord of lords, Whose service I must 
first perform.'' (Stapleton's Life of Sir Thomas 
More, chap. 6.) Would to God that you, too^ would 
imitate such fervent Christians. The Apostle St. 
Paul, speaking of the blessedness of those who be- 
lieve in Christ, says: ^^I give thanks to my God 
always for you, for the grace of God, that is given 
you in Christ Jesus : that in every thing ye are 
made rich in Him in all utterance and in all knowl- 
edge, so that nothing is wanting to you in any 
grace. (1 Cor. i., 4-6.) 

Mass alone of itself is an inexhaustible treasure 
of graces. Be careful to profit well by it. Eesolve, 



310 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

if possible, to hear Mass every day. Do not imitate 
those lukewarm Christians, w^io stay away from^ 
church for the most trivial reasons. For them, a 
little rain, a clamp mist, the slight inconvenience of 
heat, a little moisture under foot, rise up as a suffi- 
cient excuse. Early in the morning, when angels 
are descending from heaven to take their stand 
around the altar of the Most High, do you, too, set 
out to assist at the holy sacrifice, and emulate their 
devotion during the performance of this stupendous 
mystery. Do not think the time is lost which you 
spend in hearing Mass ; it w^ill jDrove most profitable 
to you in this life and in the next also. See how 
many sins you will expiate by it ! how many pun- 
ishments you will avert ! how many graces you will 
draw down upon yourself and others ! how many 
merits you will store up for heaven ! This I can 
promise you : be diligent in hearing Mass, and you 
wdll find in it all that you need, your happiness 
here below and your happiness hereafter. Amid all 
the vicissitudes of life, at the Altar you will find 
true peace and support. At one time it will be 
Mount Calvary for you, where you will weep tears^^ 
of sympathy for your Saviour and of grief for your 
sins and for those of others ; at another time it wdll 
be Mount Thabor, vvhere heavenly joy will be poured 
into your sorrowing heart and tears will be wiped 
away from your eyes. Again, that same Altar will 
be a Crib of Bethlehem for you, where you will 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 311 

gather strength to bear contempt, poverty, pain and 
desolation. Yes, at the Altar you Avill find that 
Mount of Beatitudes, where you will learn the van- 
ity of all earthly things, and the way to true and 
lasting pleasure ; and, in fine, it w^ill be to you 
Golgotha, w^here you will learn to die to yourself 
and to live to Him Who died for you. All this and 
much more you will find in the Mass, if you clierisli 
a tender devotion to it. Persevere in this devotion 
and you will soon experience the truth of what I 
have said, tasting the sweets of those inspired ejac- 
ulations : ^- How lovely are Thy tabernacles, Lord 
of Hosts ! Thou hast prepared a table before me 
against them that trouble me. Better is one day in 
Thy courts above thousands ! Blessed are they that 
dwell in Thy house, Lord : they shall praise Thee 
forever and ever." 



312 . THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 



CHAPTEE XVI. 

ON THE CEREMONIES OF MASS. 

YOU may ask, dear reader, '^ If our Lord alsa 
ordained the ceremonies of Mass ?" I answer 
no. He instituted only the essential parts of the 
Mass. He left it to His Church to prescribe the 
rites and ceremonies to be observed in its celebra- 
tion. However, most of the ceremonies of Mass are 
of great antiquity, and many of them are, without 
doubt, of Apostolic origin. It is principally for two 
reasons that the Church has prescribed so many 
ceremonies in the celebration of Mass. First, be- 
cause Mass, being the highest act of religious wor- 
ship, the Church desires that it should be celebrated 
with a solemnity and reverence corresponding in 
some degree to the greatness of the sacrifice. Sec- 
ondly, because, if the various ceremonies of Mass 
are well understood, they w411 greatly excite and 
foster a reverence and spirit of devotion in the hearts 
of the faithful. They all refer to our Saviour's pas- 
sion and death, of which the Mass is a commemora- 
tion. Hence the ritual of the Mass is arranged in ac- 
cordance with the awful tragedy of Calvary. The 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 313 

priestj the representative of Christ, is clad in gar- 
ments like those in which the Eedeemer was attired 
on the day of His cruel death. The amice or white 
cloth w^orn around his neck, represents the hand- 
kerchief with which our Lord was blindfolded ; the 
alb, or long white garment^ signifies the white robe 
which Herod put on our Saviour in mockery ; the 
cincture or girdle, the maniple on the left arm, and 
the stole passing round the neck and crossed upon 
the breast, represent the cords and strings with 
which our Lord was bound, and by which he was 
dragged through the streets of Jerusalem ; the 
chasuble, worn over all the others, signifies the 
scarlet robe in which he was arrayed when Pilate 
showed Him to the people, saying : '• Behold the 
man !'' the altar, with its crucifix, represents Mount 
Calvary ; the chalice signifies the Saviour's tomb ; 
the paten, his tombstone, and the purifier, with the 
pall and corporal, the linen cloths in which His Sa- 
cred Body was wrapped when it was laid in the 
tomb. 

When the priest begins Mass, he says with the 
Server some prayers at the foot of the altar, during 
which he bows very profoundly. This signifies our 
Lord's entering upon His passion in the garden of 
Gethsemani, where He sweat blood and prayed 
prostrate on the ground. These prayers of the 
priest are a kind of preparation for Mass. He be- 
gins by saying : ^^ In nomine Patris, et Filii et Spi- 
2^ 



314 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

ritus Sanctis'' — ^^ In the name of the Father, and 
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." It is as much 
as to say : ^' I act now by the authority of Grod the 
Father, Whose priest I am ; and of God the Son, 
in Whose place I am priest ; and of God the Holy 
Ghost, by Whom I am. priest ;" or, ^^ I oifer this 
sacrifice in the name of the Father, to Whom I 
offer it ; and of the Son, Whom I offer ; and of the 
Holy Ghost, by Whom I offer it/* Then he says a 
psalm expressive of humble trust in God, which is 
followed by the confiteor and the ordinary prayers 
accompanying it. After this he ascends the altar 
and kisses it. This part reminds us of the seizure 
of our Lord by the Jewish multitude, into whose 
hands he was betrayed by the perfidious kiss and 
cruel treachery of Judas. And now begins what 
may be called the preliminary part of the Mass, 
which answers to the time w^hen our Lord was in- 
terrogated about His doctrine before the tribunals 
of Caiphas and Pilate ; it lasts till the end of the 
creed. Having read the Introit, or short verses 
from Scripture, the priest says nine times, ^' Kyrie 
eleison/' Lord have mercy on us, thereby giving us 
to understand how constant and persevering we 
ought to be in prayer. Immediately after the Kyrie 
follows the Gloria in excelsis, the hymn which the 
angels sang at the birth of Jesus Christ. Surely if 
such a hymn of praise was sung by the heavenly 
choirs when our Saviour commenced the work of our 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 315 

redemption, we ought to render to Him a tribute of 
gratitude no less fervent when at holy Mass we com- 
memorate and participate in all His benefits and 
merits. Therefore, every one should recite this 
divine hymn along with the priest, or at least join 
his intention w^ith him, and say some Gloria Patri^ 
by way of thanksgiving. Alter the Gloria^ the 
priest turns to the people and says, Dominus vohis- 
cum, and the Server, in their name, replies, Et cum 
spiritu tuo, a salutation and response which occur 
very often during Mass. The meaning of the former 
is, '^The Lord be with you," and of the latter, 
'^ And with thy spirit/' and the Church intends, by 
this frequent interchange of holy affections between 
the priest and the people, to excite devotion^ and to 
teach us how we should desire^ above all things, to 
remain always in the peace of God. The priest ex- 
tends his arms when he says these words, to express 
the exceedingly great charity w^hich Jesus Christ 
bears towards the faithful, and to show how 
He wishes them ever to remain united to Him in 
the bonds of true love, and obedient to His com- 
mandments. The outstretched hands of the priest 
at the '• Dominus vobiscum'' signify also the out- 
stretched arms of our dying Lord on the Cross, 
Who, dying for all mankind, wished to receive 
them in His arms and press them to His heart 
in token of His undying love for them. The 
Dominus vobiscum is followed by the collect of the 



31G THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

day, and after that follow the Epistle and the 
Gospel. These vary according to the season, and 
may be found translated in many of the ordinary 
j)rayer-books. When the Epistle is ended, the 
Server says, Deo Gratias, " Thanks be to God,'' 
that is to say, for the good instruction contained in 
the Epistle ; the Server then carries the Missal to 
the other side of the altar for the reading of the 
Gospel — at the left. This signifies that^ after our 
Lord had been taken prisoner. He was led about 
from one iniquitous judge to another ; from Annas 
to Caiphas, from Caiphas to Pilate, from Pilate to 
Herod, and from Herod back again to Pilate. This 
ceremony means also that when the Jews had re- 
jected the Gospel, it passed over to the Gentiles who 
received it with joy. When the priest begins the 
Gospel, he makes the sign of the cross on the Book 
to remind us that our Lord died for the truth of the 
doctrine which He taught, and that we, also, should 
ever be ready to lay down our lives for the same 
truth. After that, the priest makes the sign of the 
cross on his forehead, on his lips, and on his hearty 
and the people do the same. This action is very 
significant, and should never be omitted. By sign- 
ing the forehead with the sign of the cross, we 
declare that we entirely submit our minds to the 
teaching of faith ; by signing the lips we testify our 
readiness to profess our faith before men ; and by 
signing the heart we remind ourselves of the duty 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 317 

of carefully preserving the word of God in our 
hearts. At the end of the Gospel the Server says, 
Laus tibiy Christe, '^ Praise be to Thee, Christ !'' 
viz : for His love, shown in the work of Redemp- 
tion, which the Gospel makes known to us. The 
Gospel is followed by the Creed, or explicit con- 
fession of the truths which our Saviour has taught 
us ; and when the priest says Et incarnatus est, etc., 
all kneel down in adoring gratitude to the Son of 
God for having become man for us. 

Now begins the Offertory, or the first part of the 
Mass^ with which Mass may properly be said to 
commence. The priest uncovers the chalice, and_, 
taking the paten with the host upon it^ in his hands, 
he solemnly offers it to God the Father. He after- 
wards does the same with the chalice, into which 
he has poured the wine ; but before offering the 
chalice he drops into it a little water, in remem- 
brance of the water that flowed from our Saviour's 
side, and also to signify that as the water becomes 
inseparably incorporated with the wine, so are we 
closely united to Jesus Christ in Holy Communion. 
Then turning to the people he says. Orate, Fratres, 
etc., ^^ Pray, my brethren,'' thereby inviting them 
to join with him in more instant supplications that 
the sacrifice which he is about to complete may be 
offered with suitable devotion. We have seen that 
St. Chrysostom^ speaking of the moment in which 
this tremendous sacrifice is consummated, says ; ^'' so 
27* 



318 THE BLESSED EUCHAKIST 

great is then the abstraction of the pious mind from 
all sublunary things, that it seems as if one were 
caught up into Paradise and saw the things that 
are done in Heaven itself.'"' It is possible that 
when he wrote these words he may have had in his 
mind the part of the service which comes next in 
order ; for now the jjriest calls upon the people to 
banish all earthly tlioughts, and to think of God 
alone J saying, Sursum Corda! ^^ Lift up your 
hearts ;" and the people, in obedience to the call, 
answer by the Server, Hahemus ad Dominum, " We 
lift them up to the Lord/' Then once more he 
appeals to them, saying, in view of the countless 
mercies of God, Gratias agamus Domino Deo nostro, 
^' Let us give thanks to the Lord, our God */' and 
they answer as before, Digniim et justum est, ^^ It is 
meet and just ;" whereupon, taking up the words 
which they have just uttered, he proceeds : ^' It is 
very meet, just, right, and salutary, that we should 
always, and in all places, give thanks to Thee, 
holy Lord, Father Almighty, Eternal God, 
through Christ, our Lord." This part of the ser- 
vice is called the preface, and it includes a particular 
thanksgiving for the special blessings which the 
holy Church commemorates. The preface ends with 
a petition that our praises be accepted before the 
altar of the Most High, in union with the adoration 
of the Angels, who rest not day or night, saying, 
" Holv, holv, holv Lord God of hosts !" At these 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 319 

words the sanctus bell is rung to give notice of the 
approaching consecration. Here all should kneel 
and keep as quiet as possible, avoiding even cough- 
ing or moving unnecessarily ; for now the canon or 
most solemn part of the Mass begins, and the conse- 
cration^ or the second and most essential part of the 
Mass, soon takes place. When in the act of conse- 
crating, the priest performs the same action which 
Jesus Christ performed at the Last Supper. He 
takes the host into his hands, and, lifting up his 
eyes to Heaven, he repeats the words which our 
Lord made use of; and, by the divine power of 
those words, the bread is changed into the true body 
of our Saviour. After this he pronounces the words 
of consecration over the wine in the chalice. The 
bell is rung three times at each consecration as a 
warning to the people to adore Jesus Christ present 
on the altar. This is done according to the ancient 
usage of the Church. '^No one,'' says St. Augus- 
tine, ^' eats of this flesh — the Holy Eucharist — 
without having first adored it.'' 

The priest elevates the host after he has conse- 
crated it^ and so he does with the chalice, in order 
that the faithful may compensate, in some de- 
gree, by the loving adoration of their hearts, for the 
insults, mockeries, and injuries which our Lord 
received when He was lifted up on the cross. The 
priest also makes the sign of the cross very often 
over the sacred species. This is to remind us of the 



320 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

many i3ains and sorrows which our Lord Jesus 
Christ endured for us during His crucifixion. All 
the prayers of the canon are said by the priest in 
such a low tone of voice that they cannot be heard. 
This is in memory of those awful hours during which 
Jesus Christ hung on the cross and bore, in silence, 
the scoffs and blasphemies of the Jewish multitude. 
But at the Fater Nosier the priest raises his voice ; 
this is to remind the faithful of the last seven words 
which our Saviour spoke in a loud voice when hang- 
ing on the cross. After the Pater Noster, the 
priest breaks the host, signifying thereby the death 
of Christ, or the separation of our Lord's soul from 
His body ; at the same time he drops a small par- 
ticle of the host into the chalice, to signify that our 
Lord's soul descended into Limbo, to announce to 
the Patriarchs their redemption. At the commu- 
nion of the priests, or the third part of the Mass^ 
the bell is rung again in order that the faithful may 
be reminded also to receive communion, at least 
spiritually. The act of communion represents the 
burial of Christ. At this moment we should offer 
our hearts as a Sepulchre to our Lord ; that is to 
say, we should resolve to close them against the 
world, and to keep them pure and incorrupt, that 
they may be the resting place of Him "Who died for 
love of us. After communion the priest says some 
prayers in thanksgiving, after which he turns and 
says, ^' Ite Missa est.'' This means that the Mass 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 321 

is ended ; accordingly immediately afterwards he 
dismisses the people with his benediction by making 
over them the sign of the cross, to remind them 
once more that every blessing comes from the death 
of Christ. Then the Gospel of St. John is read, at 
the end of which the Server says, ^'Deo Gratias.'' 
Thanks be to God for His great mercy in having 
permitted us to assist at so precious and so holy a 
sacrifice. 

Thus the ceremonies of Mass evince the deep wis- 
dom of our holy Mother, the Church, and if one has 
but a little good will, they will be a powerful means 
of leading the mind on to the great and inestimable 
mysteries which the Holy Sacrifice contains. When 
our Saviour was crucified on Mount Calvary, the 
sun was darkened, the rocks were rent, and the 
whole earth quaked ; the Koman centurion, seeing 
the things that were done, was greatly afraid and 
said, '' Indeed this was the Son of God.'' So the 
mystical renewal of the sufferings of Christ which 
is made at Mass, continually excites emotions of 
faith and love in those who assist at it with sincere 
hearts. Truly, Mass is the most powerful means 
to foster faith and fervor. For this reason the devil 
persuaded Luther to attack this holy sacrifice, as 
the most infallible means of preparing the high 
road to Protestantism^ that is to say, a general 
apostacy from Christianity. As soon as God would 
permit the Mass to be abolished, the gates of hell 



322 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

would exert a fearful power against the Church; 
and even threaten destruction to the Christian 
religion. Nevertheless^ it is possible to remain in- 
devout and coldj even with so great a means of 
grace at our command. In the very temple of Grod 
our Lord found those that sold oxen, sheep, and 
doves, and the changers of money sitting. 

St. Chrysostom says of some Christians in his 
days^ that they committed greater sins by their 
irreverence in Church than they would have done by 
remaining away altogether. It was on account of 
sacrileges perpetrated in Church that the Kingdom 
of Cyprus fell into the hands of the Turks. But I 
need not go to history for instances of irreverence ; 
modern times furnish, alas ! too many, which prove 
how easy it is for one whose heart has grown hard 
and cold to treat the most holy things with disre- 
spect. Be, then, always on your guard against the 
spirit of unbelief. The love of the world soon 
deadens our appreciation of spiritual things. Strive 
to cherish a tenderness of heart for the greatest and 
most lovely mystery of our holy religion. When 
you go to Mass, say with St. Francis : ^'Now, ye 
worldly affairs and thoughts of business, leave me 
and remain outside, while I go into the Sanctuary 
of the Most High to speak to the great Lord of 
Heaven and earth/' Be reverent whilst you are 
assisting^ at Mass, and, when it is over, leave the 
Church with such sentiments of humility and piety 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 323 

as if coming from the awful scene of the death of 
Jesus Christ on Mount Calvary. In fine^ go forth 
to your duties with the same resolution with which 
you would have gone had you stood with Mary and 
St. John heneath your Saviour's Cross, namely: to 
merit Heaven by fulfilling the obligations of your 
state of life ; and by bearing with patience all suf- 
ferings, trials, hardships and injuries for the love of 
Jesus Christ, Who loved us to such an excess, and 
Whom we shall never be able to thank suflSciently, 
nor repay His ever-burning love. 



CHAPTEK XVII 



AN EXHORTATION TO HEAR MASS DEVOUTLY. 

" A LL good works together," says the saintly 
-^-A^ Cure of Ars^ ^^ are not of equal value with 
the sacrifice of the Mass, because they are the works 
of men, and the Holy Mass is the work of God." 
Martyrdom is nothing in comparison ; it is the sac- 
rifice that man makes of his life to God ; the Mass 
is the sacrifice that God makes of His Body and of 



324 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

His Blood for man. Yet, how little is this most 
august sacrifice valued by most of men! If some 
one were to say to us, ^^ at such a place and at such 
an hour a dead person will be raised to life/' we 
should run very fast to see it. But is not the con- 
secration which changes bread and wine into the 
Body and Blood of God a much greater miracle 
than the raising of a dead person to life? Ah ! if 
Christians knew better the value of the holy sacri- 
fice of the Mass, or rather, if they had more faith, 
they would be much more zealous to assist at it with 
reverence and devotion. 

To increase your zeal and fervor in hearing Holy 
Mass with greater devotion, let me relate a marvel- 
lous vision in which St. Gertrude saw our Lord 
Jesus Christ celebrate Mass in a mystical manner : 
On '^ Gaudete" Sunday, as Gertrude prepared to 
communicate at the first Mass, which commences 
^'Borate,'' she complained to our Lord that she 
could not hear Mass ; but our Lord, who compas- 
sionates the afflicted, consoled her, saying : ^^ Do 
you wish. My beloved, that I should say Mass for 
you?" Then, being suddenly rapt in spirit, she 
replied: ^^I do desire it, beloved of my soul; 
and I most ardently beseech Thee to grant me this 
favor." Our Lord then intoned the '^ Gaiidete in 
Domino semper^'' with a choir of saints, to incite 
this soul to praise and rejoice in Him ; and as He 
sat on His royal throne, St. Gertrude cast herself 



OUR GREATESr TREASURE. 325 

at His feet and embraced them. Then He chanted 
the '^ Kyrie eleison'' in a clear and loud voice, while 
two of the princes of the choir of thrones took her 
soul and brought it before God the Father^ where 
she remained prostrate. 

At the first Kyrie eleisoUj He granted her the 
remission of all the sins which she had contracted 
through human frailty ; after which^ the Angels 
raised her up on her knees. At the second, He par- 
doned her sins of ignorance ; and she was raised up 
by these princes, so that she stood before God. 
Then two Angels of the choir of Cherubim led her 
to the Son of God, who received her with great ten- 
derness. At the first Christe eleison, the saint 
offered our Lord all the sweetness of human affec- 
tion, returning it to Him as to its Source ; and there 
was a wonderful influx of God into her soul, and of 
her soul into God, so that by the descending notes 
the ineffable delights of the Divine Heart flowed 
into her, and by the ascending notes the joys of her 
soul flowed back to God. At the second Christe 
eleison, she experienced the most ineffable delights, 
which she offered to our Lord. At the third Christe 
eleison, the Son of God extended His hands and 
bestowed on her all the fruit of His most holy life 
and conversation. 

Two Angels of the choir of Seraphim then pre- 
sented her to the Holy Spirit, Who penetrated the 
three powers of her soul. At the first Kyrie eleison, 
28 



326 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

He illuminated her reason with the glorious light 
of divine knowledge, that she might always know 
His will perfectly. At the second Kyrie eleison, He 
strengthened the irascible part of her soul to resist 
all the machinations of her enemies, and to conquer 
every evil. At the last Kyrie eleison, He inflamed 
her love, that she might love Grod with her whole 
heart, with her whole soul, and with her whole 
strength. It was for this reason that the choir of 
Seraphim, which is the highest order in the heavenly 
hosts, presented her to the Holy Grhost, Who is the 
Third Person of the Most Holy Trinity, and that 
the Thrones presented her to God the Father, man- 
ifesting that the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are 
one God, equal in glory, co-eternal in majesty, 
living and reigning perfect Trinity through endless 
ages. 

The Son of God then rose from His royal throne, 
and, turning towards God the Father, entoned the 
Gloria in excelsis in a clear and sonorous voice. At 
the word gloria He extolled the immense and incom- 
prehensible omnipotence of God the Father ; at 
the words in excelsis He praised His profound wis- 
dom ; at Deo He honored the inestimable and 
indescribable sweetness of the Holy Ghost. The 
whole celestial court then continued in a most har- 
monious voice, Et in terra pax liominihus bonoe vol- 
untatis. Our Lord being again seated on His throne, 
St. Gertrude sat at His feet meditating on her own 



OtJR GREATEST TREASURE. 327 

abjection J when He inclined towards her lovingly ; 
then she rose and stood before Him, while the 
Divine splendor illuminated her whole being. Two 
angels from the Choir of Thrones then brought a 
throne magnificently adorned, which they placed 
before our Lord ; two princes from the Choir of 
Seraphim placed Gertrude thereon, and supported 
her on each side, while two of the Choir of Cherubim 
stood before her bearing brilliant torches; and thus 
she remained before her Beloved, clothed in royal 
purple. When the heavenly hosts came to the 
words Domine Deus Bex Ccdestis^ they paused_, and 
the Son of God continued alone chanting to the 
honor and glory of His Father. 

At the conclusion of the Gloria in excelsis, the 
Lord Jesus, Who is our true High Priest and Pon- 
tiff, turned to St. Gertrude, saying, Dominus Vobis- 
currij dilecta — '^The Lord be with you, beloved;" 
and she replied, ^^ Et spirihts mens tecuiUy prcedilecte 
— '' And may my spirit be with Thee, my Be- 
loved.'' After this she inclined towards the Lord 
to return Him thanks for His love in uniting her 
spirit to His Divinity, Whose delights are with the 
children of men. The Lord then read the Collect, 
DeuSy qui hanc sacratissimam nocterriy which He con- 
cluded with the words, Per Jesum Christum Jilium 
tuum, as if giving thanks to God the Father, for 
illuminating the soul of Gertrude, whose unworthi- 
ness was indicated by the word noctem (night) which 



328 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

was called most holy, because she had become mar- 
vellously ennobled by the knowledge of her own 
baseness. 

St. John, the Evangelist, then rose and stood 
between God and her soul. He was adorned with a 
yellow garment, which was covered with golden 
eagles. He commenced the Epistle Hcec estsponsa, 
and the celestial court concluded, Ipsi gloria in 
scecula. Then all chanted the gradual Specie tua, 
adding the Versicle Audi filia et vide. After this 
they commenced the Alleluia, St. Paul, the great 
Doctor of the Churchy pointed to St. Gertrude, say- 
ing, JEmulor enim vos — '^ For I am jealous of you'' 
(2 Cor. xi, 2) ; and the heavenly choir sang the 
prose, Filice Sion exultent. At the words Dum non 
consentiret, St. Gertrude remembered that she had 
been a little negligent in resisting temptations, and 
she hid her face in shame ; but our Lord, Who 
could not bear to behold the confusion of His chaste 
queen, covered her negligence with a collar of gold, 
so that she appeared as if she had gained a glorious 
victory over all her enemies. 

Then another Evangelist commenced the Gospel 
Exultavit Dominus Jesus, and these words moved the 
Heart of Jesus so deeply that He arose, and, ex- 
tending His hands, exclaimed aloud, Conjiteor tihi 
Pater J manifesting the same thanksgiving and grat- 
itude to His Father as He had done when He said 
the same words on earth, giving special thanks for 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 329 

the graces bestowed on this soul. After the Gospel 
He desired Gertrude to make a public profession of 
faith, by reciting the Creed in the name of the 
whole Church. When she had concluded, the choir 
chanted the offertory, Domine Deus in simplicitate, 
adding Sanctificavit Moyses, The Heart of Jesus 
then appeared as a golden altar, which shone with 
a marvellous brightness, on which the angel guar- 
dians offered the good works and prayers of those 
committed to their care. The Saints then ap- 
proached, and each offered his merits to the eternal 
praise of God, and for the salvation of St. Gertrude. 
The angelic princes, who had charge of the Saint, 
next approached and offered a chalice of gold, which 
contained all the trials and afflictions which she had 
endured, either in body or soul, from her infancy ; 
and the Lord blessed the chalice with the sign of 
the cross, as the priest blesses it before Consecration. 

He now intoned the words Sursum corda. Then 
all the Saints were summoned to come forward, and 
they applied their hearts in the form of golden 
pipes, to the golden altar of the Divine Heart ; and 
from the overflowings of this chalice, which our 
Lord had consecrated by His benediction, they 
received some drops for the increase of their merit, 
glory, and eternal beatitude. 

The Son of God then chanted the Gratias agamus 
to the glory and honor of His Eternal Father. At 
the Preface, He remained silent for an hour after the 
28* 



330 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

words Per Jesicm Christum, while the heavenlv 
hosts chanted the Dominum nostrum with ineffable 
jubilation, declaring that He was their Creator, 
Eedeemer, and the liberal Eewarder of all their 
good works, and that He alone was worthy of honor 
and glory, praise and exaltation, power and domin- 
ion^ from and over all creatures. At the words 
laudant angeli, all the angelic spirits ran hither and 
thither, exciting the heavenly inhabitants to sing 
the Divine praises. At the words Adorant Domina- 
t{o7ies, the Choir of Dominations knelt to adore our 
Lord, declaring that to Him alone every knee should 
bow, whether in Heaven, on earth, or under the 
earth. At the Tremunt Potestates, the Powers 
prostrated before Him to declare that He alone 
should be adored ; and at the Coeli coelorumquej they 
praised Grod with all the angel choirs. 

Then all the heavenly hosts sang together in 
harmonious concert the Cum quihus et nostras : and 
the Virgin Mary, the effulgent Eose of Heaven^ who 
is blessed above all creatures, chanted the Sanctus, 
sanctus, sanctus, extolling with the highest gratitude 
by these three words the incomprehensible omnipo- 
tence, the inscrutable wisdom, and the ineffable 
goodness of the Ever Blessed Trinity, inciting all 
the celestial choirs to praise God for having made 
her most powerful after the Father, most wise after 
the Son^ and most benign after the Holy Ghost. 
The Saints then continued the Domine Deus Sahaoth, 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 331 

When this was ended, Grertrude saw our Lord rise 
from His royal throne and present His blessed 
Heart to His Father, elevating it with His own 
hands, and immolating it in an ineffable manner 
for the whole Church. At this moment the bell 
rang for the Elevation of the Host in the Church ; 
so that it ajDpeared as if our Lord did in heaven 
what the priests did on earth ; but the Saint was 
entirely ignorant of what was passing in the 
Church, or what the time was. As she continued 
in amazement at so many marvels, our Lord told 
her to recite the Pater noster. When she had fin- 
ished He accepted it from her, and granted to all 
the Saints and Angels, for her sake, that by this 
Pater noster they should accomplish everything 
which had ever been accomplished for the salvation 
of the Church and for the souls in purgatory. Then 
He suggested her to pray for the Church, which she 
did, for all in general^ and for each in particular, 
with the greatest fervor ; and the Xord united her 
prayer to those which He had offered Himself when 
in the flesh, to be applied to the Universal Church. 
Then she exclaimed : ^^ But, Lord, when shall 
I communicate?" And our Lord communicated 
Himself to her with a love and tenderness which no 
human tongue could describe, so that she received 
the perfect fruit of His most precious Body and 
Blood. After this He sang a canticle of love for 
her, and declared to her, that had this union of 



O'l 



32 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

Himself with her been the sole fruit of His labors^- 
sorrows and Passion, He would have been fullv sat- 
isfied. Oh^ inestimable sweetness of the Divine con- 
descension, Who so delights in human hearts that 
He considers His union wnth them a sufficient return 
for all the bitterness of His Passion! and yet, what 
should w^e not owe Him had He only shed one drop 
of His precious Blood for us ! 

Our Lord then chanted Gaudete justly and all the 
Saints rejoiced wdth Gertrude. Then our Lord said,, 
in the name of the Church Militant, Refedi sibo, 
&c. ; He then saluted all the Saints lovingly, say- 
ing, Dominiis voiisciim^ and thereby increased the 
glory and joy of all the blessed. The Saints and 
Angels then sang, for the Ite 3Iissa est, Te decet 
laus et honor Domine, to the glory and praise of the 
effulgent and ever peaceful Trinity. The Son of 
God extended His royal hand and blessed the Saint, 
saying : '^ I bless thee, daughter of eternal light, 
with this special blessing,' granting you this favor, 
that wdienever you desire to do good to any one 
from particular affection^ they will be as much ben- 
efitted above others as Jacob was above Esau when 
he received his father's blessing.'' 

My dear reader, w^ere our Lord to favor you but 
once with such a vision, how great would not be 
your devotion in hearing Mass ! Ah ! dear reader, 
our vision must be our faith ; faith is the best of all 
visions, because it is not subject to any illusion. In 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 333 

the light of a lively faith you will see in every Mass 
all these marvels of Divine Omnipotence, Wisdom 
and Goodness, which St. Gertrude saw. This faith 
teaches us to do what St. James, the Apostle, says 
in his Mass : ^^ When the moment of Consecration 
is arriving, every one should be silent, and trem- 
bling with reverential awe ; he should forget every- 
thing earthly, remembering that the King of Kings 
and the Lord of Lords is coming down upon the 
altar as a victim to be offered to God the Father, 
and as food to be given to the faithful ; He is pre- 
ceded by the Angelic choirs, in full splendor, with 
their faces veiled,' singing hymns of praise with 
great joy. Of these hymns of praise St. Bridget 
writes thus: ^^ One day, when a priest was cele- 
brating Mass^ I saw, at the moment of Consecration, 
how all the powers of heaven were set in motion. 
I heard, »at the same time, a heavenly music, most 
harmonious, most sweet. Numberless Angels came 
down, the chant of whom no human understanding 
can conceive^ nor the tongue of man describe. They 
surrounded and looked upon the priest, bowing to- 
wards him in reverential awe. The devils com- 
menced to tremble, and took to flight in the great- 
est confusion and terror." (Lib. 8. c. 56.) 

All this is in accordance with what other great 
Saints have seen or said on this subject. St. John 
Chrysostop„ says that whole choirs of Angels are 
surrounding the altar whilst Jesus Christ is as a 



334 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

victim upon it. St. Euthymius, when saying Mass, 
would often see many Angels assisting at the Sacred 
Mysteries in reverential awe. At other times he 
would see an immense fire and light coming down 
from heaven and enveloping him and his assistant 
to the end of the holy sacrifice. (Life by Oyrillus.) 
In the same manner the Holy Ghost would, in the 
form of a fiery flame, surround St. Anastasius 
whilst celebrating Mass. (Life by St. Basil.) St. 
Guduvalus, Archbishop, who would always prepare 
himself for the celebration of this most august sac- 
rifice, by fasting, night watches, and many fervent 
prayers, often saw how the Angels descended from 
heaven during Mass, chanting hymns of praise with 
unspeakably great reverence ; but he himself would 
be standing at the altar like a majestic column of 
fiery flame whilst he was celebrating the holy sacri- 
fice. Severus relates of St. Martin, that when he 
was saying Mass, a fiery globe would be seen above 
his head. Who shall not wonder at this behavior 
of the Angels during Mass, and at the great prepa- 
rations which the celestial spirits make when Mass 
is being celebrated, in order that this most august 
mystery may be performed with the greatest pomp 
and dignity possible. But we, wretched men as we 
are, see, for want of faith, but little of the super- 
natural that is going on during Mass. Were our 
Lord to show us what He deigned St. Bridget and 
other Saints to see, what great marvels should we 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 335 

not witness ? We should see how the whole of the 
heavenly host would be occupied in making most 
suitable preparations for renewing, in a mystical 
manner, the life, sufferings and death of Jesus 
Christ. We should see, to our greatest surprise 
and astonishment, how a heavenly sun, moon and 
stars would shine upon this mystery during its cele- 
bration, and how the Angelic choirs would glorify 
it by their music most sweet, and their singing most 
enrapturing. We would see, moreover, how true 
it is what our Lord once said to St. Matilda. (Lib. 
3. Eevel.c. 28.) ^^At the moment of Consecration," 
said He, '' I come down first in such deep humility^ 
that there is no one at Mass, no matter how despi- 
cable and vile he may be, towards whom I do not 
humbly incline and approach, if he desires Me to do 
so and prays for it ; secondly, I come down with 
such great patience that I suffer even my greatest 
enemies to be present and grant them the full 
pardon of all their sins, if they wish to be reconciled 
with Me ; thirdly, I come with such immense love 
that no one of those present can be so hardened 
that I do not soften his heart and enkindle it with 
My love if he wishes Me to do so ; fourthly, I come 
with such inconceivable liberality, that none of 
those present can be so poor that I would not enrich 
him abundantly ; fifthly, I come with such sweet 
food that no one ever so hungry should not be 
refreshed and fully satiated by Me. Sixthly, I 



336 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

come witli such great light and splendor that no 
heart, how blinded soever it may be, will not be en- 
lightened and purified by My presence. Seventhly, 
I come with such great sanctity and treasures of 
grace, that no one, however inert and indevout he 
may be, should not be roused from this state." 
Who should not exclaim, with St. Francis of 
Assisium, ^^ Oh, wonderf^ul greatness! Oh, most 
humble condescension ! that the well beloved Son 
of God should conceal Himself for man's sake, 
under the small species of bread ! Let entire man^ 
the whole world and the heavens tremble at such a 
spectacle !'' Not seeing these wonders with our 
eyes, we are accustomed not to appreciate them, and 
to assist at Mass with levity and indevotion. But 
the Angels see them and tremble. The devils see 
them and take to flight ; we see them not, but 
believe them, and though faith is the best sight, 
yet we are present, almost like marble blocks, 
looking at every one who comes in or goes out ; the 
least noise disturbs us and makes us forget our 
Lord. We truly deserve the reproach which Jesus 
Christ made to St. Peter, when He said, ^^0 ye of 
little faith.'' Nowhere do these words come more 
true than when we are at Mass ! how much is this, 
our little faith, confounded by the fervor and devo- 
tion of so many Christian Dukes and Monarchs. 

Fornerus, formerly Bishop of Bamberg, relates 
(Miser, cone. V8) of the great Duke Simon Montfort^ 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 337 

as follows : ^^This famous Duke was accustomed to 
hear Mass daily with great devotion, and at the 
elevation of the Sacred Host he would say with 
Simon : ' Now Thou dost dismiss Thy servant, 
Lord^ according to Thy word in peace, because my 
eyes have seen Thy salvation/ (Luke ii. 29, 30.) 
His regular attendance at Mass was known to the 
Albigenses, his bitterest enemies, against whom he 
had been waging war for twenty years. The Albi- 
genses, being driven to despair, determined to make 
a sudden attack upon the Duke's army in the 
morning whilst he was at Mass. They executed 
their design, and really surprised his soldiers. 
Officers came to him whilst he was hearing Mass, 
announcing to him the great danger in which the 
whole army was, and begging him to come to their 
aid. The Duke answered, ^ Let me serve the 
Lord now, and men afterwards.' No sooner were 
these officers gone than others arrived making the 
same most earnest request. The Duke replied, ^ I 
shall not leave this place until I have seen and 
adored my God and Saviour Jesus Christ.' Mean- 
while, he recommended his whole army to our 
Lord, beseeching Him by the most august sacrifice 
of the Mass to assist his people. At the elevation 
of the Sacred Host, he poured out his heart in 
humble prayer to his Saviour, offering up to the 
Heavenly Father the Body and Blood of His well 
beloved Son, and making, at the same time, an ob- 
29 



338 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

lation of his own life in honor of the Blessed 
Trinity. At the elevation of the chalice he prayed, 
^ Now Thou dost dismiss Thy servant, Lord, 
according to Thy word in peace, because my eyes 
have seen Thy salvation/ Then feeling inspired 
with great courage and confidence in the Lord, he 
said to his officers, ^ Now let us go, and if God 
pleases, die for Him Who has deigned to die for us 
on tlie Cross/ His whole army consisted of but 
eight hundred cavalry, v/ith a small number of 
infantry. With this little force he attacked, in the 
name of the Blessed Trinity, the grand army of the 
Albigenses, commanded by the Count of Tolosa, 
who was supported by the army of Peter, King of 
Aragonia, his brother-in-law. Now, of this grand 
arniy Simon Montfort, the christian hero, killed 
tw^enty thousand men on the spot, and the rest of 
his enemies he put to shameful flight. Every one 
said and believed that Montfort had gained this 
glorious victory more by his fervent prayers at Mass 
than by the strength of his army, which counted 
but sixteen thousand men. Ah ! how^ many and 
how great would be the victories which we should 
gain over the devil, the world, and the flesh, were 
we always to hear Mass with as much faith, fervor 
and devotion as this Duke did ! How great would 
be our humility to bear contempt and contradictions 
with a tranquil heart ; how great our patience to 
carry the crosses and trials of this life until death ; 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 339 

how great our confidence in the Lord under the 
most trying circumstances ; how great our charity 
for our neighbor ; how great the light of our under- 
standing in religious matters, and the devotion of 
our hearts to relish the same, if we profited well by 
the gift of God in the holy Mass ! What the holy 
Patriarch, Jacob, said after his wrestling with the 
Angel of the Lord, we too might say, but with 
more truth than he did, '^ I have seen God face to 
face, and my soul has been saved/' (Gen. xxxii, 
30.) For '^ as often as one hears Mass,'' said our 
Lord Jesus Christ to St. Gertrude, ^^ and looks 
with devotion upon Me in the Sacred Host, or has 
at least the desire of doing so, so many times he 
increases his merits and glory in heaven, and so 
many particular blessings and favors and delights 
shall he receive. (Lib. 4, Eevel. c. 25.) Yes, my 
dear reader, for your and for my sake the heavenly 
Father sends his well beloved Son upon the altar ; 
for your and my salvation the Holy Ghost changes 
bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus 
Christ ; for your and my sake the son of God comes 
from heaven and conceals himself under the species 
of bread and wine, humbling Himself so much as to 
be whole and entire in the smallest particle of the 
Host ; for your and my sake He renews the mystery 
of His incarnation, is born anew in a mystical 
manner ; for your and my sake He offers up to His 
heavenly Father all the prayers and devotions 



340 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

which He performed during His life on earth ; for 
your and my sake He renews His Passion and 
Death to make us partake of its merits^ cancelling 
your and ray sins and negligences, and remitting 
many temporal punishments due to the same. One 
Mass which you have heard will do you more good 
than many which are said for you after your death. 
As many Masses you have heard, so many consola- 
tions you will experience in the hour of your death^ 
and so many advocates you will have before the 
tribunal of God to defend and plead for you. You 
can do nothing better for your parents, friends, for 
the poor and distressed, for your benefactors, for the 
dying, for the conversion of sinners, for the just^ 
for the souls in purgatory, than to hear and offer up 
for them the holy sacrifice of the Mass, nor can you 
give greater glory and joy to the Blessed Trinity, 
to the Blessed Virgin, and all the Saints, than by 
assisting at Mass with devotion. Mass is the most 
powerful means to be preserved from temporal and 
spiritual harm, to obtain every gift from the Lord, 
both for this life and for that to come. In a 
word, Mass is, as St. Francis de Sales says, '^the 
centre of the Christian religion, the heart of devo- 
tion, and the soul of piety ; a mystery so ineffable 
as to comprise within itself the abyss of Divine 
charity ; a mystery in which God communicates 
Himself really to us, and, in a special manner, 
replenishes our souls with spiritual graces and 



OUPw GREATEST TREASURE. 341 

$ 

favors/' (Devout Life^ chap. 14.) Hence I can 
truly say and fairly conclude that there is no hour 
of the day so precious as that which you devote to 
hearing Mass. It is truly a golden hour, for the 
merit you gain therein is more precious than pure 
gold. The other hours of the day, although they 
are necessary, and have their use in the economy of 
Nature, in comparison, can only be esteemed as 
dross. 

But you may say, ''It is more necessary for us 
to labor than to hear Mass, because, without work, 
I cannot earn a subsistence for myself and family." 
I say otherwise ; it is even more necessary to hear 
Mass than to labor, because it is a most powerful 
means to keep yourself in a state of grace, and 
difficult lor you to obtain the blessings of God 
without it. I do not say neglect your work, but 
break off for an half-hour and give that short time 
to God, and you will find your business will succeed 
better, as it will have God's blessing upon it. If 
you neglect to hear Mass, either for temporal 
interest or from slothfulness, you occasion to your- 
self a loss, in comparison with which no worldly 
loss is to be compared ; for you lose a hundred fold 
greater gain than you can make by your work 
during the whole day. This you may judge from 
the remarkable words which Christ used w^ith so 
much emphasis. ''What does it profit a man 
if he gain the whole world and lose his own 
29* 



342 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

• 

soul." (Matthew xvi, 26.) Can you hesitate for 
a trifling, worldly profit, to refuse to listen to and 
apply to yourself the trusty admonition of Christ 
Himself? 



CHAPTEK XVIIi; 

EXAMPLES RELATING TO THE HOLY SACRIFICE OF THE 

MASS. 

1. St. Isidore was hired by a wealthy farmer to 
cultivate his farm. He would, however, never com- 
mence to work in the morning before he had heard 
Mass. He was accused, by some of his fellow- 
laborers to his master, of staying too long in the 
church, and of being always too late at work. His 
master, to convince himself of the truth of the ac- 
cusation^ went out early in the morning to see 
whether Isidore came in due time to the farm ; but 
how great was his astonishment when he beheld 
two Angels, dressed in white, ploughing with two 
yoke of oxen, and St. Isidore in their midst. From 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 343 

this time forward Isidore was held in great venera- 
lion by the wealthy farmer, and by all who heard 
of the fact. 

2. The following event was related to me by one 
of our Fathers, in whose native country it took 
place : In the year 1828 or 1829, a young man trav- 
elled through Switzerland. When he came to Zu- 
rich he fell dangerously ill. Being a Catholic, he 
begged the hotel-keeper to send for a Catholic priest. 
^^ I will send for one,'' said he. Meanwhile, he 
agreed with two other guests of his, to play the 
priest, with two Servers. Accordingly, he went to 
the young man and heard his confession ; after 
which he received from him some money as a lit- 
tle present, with the request that he should say 
three Holy Masses. After this criminal action, he 
left the young man, went with the other compan- 
ions into another room, saying to them : ^^ Come, 
let us go and say the three Masses,'' meaning 
thereby that they would drink three bottles of wine. 
They sat down at table, and having emptied one 
bottle, said: ^^ Behold, one Mass already said." 
Having emptied the second bottle, they cried out 
with great laughter : ^^ Now, two Masses are said." 
God did not long withhold His revenge. No sooner 
had they drunk the third bottle of wine than all 
three of them suddenly died — turning as black as 
coal. This dreadful event became known amongst 
the people. The civil magistrate interfered : they 



344 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

locked up the room, leaving therein the three black 
corpses for the space of twenty-six days, in order to 
make a minute examination, of the case. This is a- 
well known fact in that city, and in the neighbor- 
ing provinces. 

3. St. Anthony, Archbishop of Florence, relates- 
that two young men went hunting on a holy-day of 
obligation. Only one of them took care to hear 
Mass previously. Not long after they had started, 
a friglitful thunder-storm came on, and a flash of 
lightning instantly killed the one who had not 
heard Mass. The other young man was panic- 
stricken at this, especially as he heard, at the same 
time, a voice, saying : ^^ Strike him too." A little 
after, he felt encouraged by another voice^ which 
said : '* I cannot strike him, because he heard Mass 
this morning." (Ant. II. p. Theologian ix. c. 10.) 

4. We read of St. Elizabeth, queen of Portugal, 
that she gave orders to her almoner never to refuse 
an alms to a poor person ; besides, she herself would 
often give alms, and employed several of her do- 
mestics to do the same. She chose for this charitable 
office one of her pages especially, because she had 
noticed in him a more than usual piety. He never 
omitted hearing Mass every day. Now it happened 
that another page, through envy, accused him to 
the king of too much familiarity with the queen » 
The king became enraged ; without further exami- 
nation he gave orders to a certain person who had 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 345 

the care of a furnace, to throw into it the first of 
his pages that would go to the place, and imme- 
diately make known to him the result. He then 
sent the page who had been accused to the place in 
which the furnace was. On his way the page heard 
the bell for Mass^ and waited to assist at the holy 
sacrifice. Not hearing immediately what he expected 
from the person employed at the furnace, the king 
«ent the other page to see what had happened. The 
miserable accuser, being the first who arrived, was 
cast into the furnace and burned alive. The inno- 
•cent page afterwards appeared, and^, being reproved 
by the king for not having promptly obeyed his 
order, said that he had stopped on his way to hear 
Mass. The king began to suspect the accusation to 
be false, sought for better information, and dis- 
covered the innocence of the devout page. (Chron. 
-S. Fr. p. 2, Lib. 8, c. 28.) 

5. Three merchants prepared to travel together 
from the city of Gubbio. One of them wished to 
hear Mass before* his departure, but the others 
refused to wait for him, and set out by themselves. 
But when they arrived at the river Corfuone, which 
liad swelled to a great height in consequence of the 
rain that fell during the night, the bridge gave 
way, and they were drowned. The third, who had 
waited to hear Mass, found the two companions 
dead on the bank of the river, and thankfullv 
acknowledged the grace which he had received on 
account of having assisted at Mass. 



346 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

6. St. Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, when^ 
on account of his old age, he was no longer able to 
say Mass, had himself carried daily to the oratory 
in order to hear Mass. (Life by Ediner.) 

7. In the Chronicles of Spain it is related of 
Paschalis Vivas, a celebrated General, that whilst 
he was hearing Mass in the Church of St. Martin, 
he was seen at the same time fighting in the battle 
against the King of Corduba, and gaining a most 
splendid victory over the enemies, although he was 
not present in person when the engagement took 
place, his guardian angel assuming his form and 
fighting in his place. 

8. St. Basil would not finish Mass unless favored 
by a heavenly vision. Once this favor was denied 
him on account of a lascivious look of his assistant. 
The Saint then sent him away, whereupon the vision 
returned and he finished the holy sacrifice. 

9. Paschasius relates that when St. Plegil said 
Mass, this holy priest would see Jesus Christ in the 
Consecrated Host, under the form of a beautiful 
child stretching out his arms as if to embrace him. 

10. Once, at Easter, Pope Gregory I. celebrated 
Mass in the church of St. Maria Maggiore and said 
the words, '^ Pax Domini sit semper vohiscum/' an 
Angel of the Lord answered, in a loud voice, ^^ Et 
cum sjoiritu tuo/' For this reason, when the Pope 
celebrates Mass on that day in the church and says^ 
^^ Fax Domini sit semper vohiscum/' no answer is 
made. (Life by John the Deacon.) 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 347 

11. We read in tlie life of St. Oswald^ Bishop, 
that an Angel would assist him at Mass, and make 
all the necessary answers. 

12. ^'My children/' said the Cure of Ars one 
day, '^you remember the story I told you of that 
holy priest who was praying for his friend. God 
had made known to him, it appears, that this friend 
was in purgatory ; it came into his mind that he 
could do nothing better than to ojBfer the holy sacri- 
fice of Mass for his soul. When he came to the 
moment of Consecration, he took the sacred host in 
his hands and said : ^^ Oh, Holy and Eternal Father, 
let us make an exchange. Thou hast the soul of 
my friend, who is in purgatory, and I have the 
Body of Thy Son, Who is in my hands ; well, do 
Thou deliver my friend, and I offer Thee Thy Son, 
with all the merits of His Death and Passion.' In 
fact, at the moment of the elevation, he saw the 
soul of his friend rising to heaven, all radiant with 
glory. Well, my children, when we want to obtain 
anything from the good God, let us do the same. 
After the Consecration, let us offer Him His well- 
beloved Son, with all the merits of His Death and 
His Passion. He will not be able to refuse us any- 
thing. 

At the moment when the mother of St. Alexis 
recognized her own son in the lifeless body of the 
beggar, who had lived thirty years under the stair- 
case of her palace, she exclaimed, '^ 0, my son ! 



348 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

why have I known thee so late ?" Thus the soul^ 
on quitting this life^ will see Him Whom it pos- 
sessed in the Holy Eucharist, and, at the sight of 
the consolations, of the beauty, and of the riches 
that it failed to recognize, it will also exclaim : 
'^ 0, Jesus ! 0, my God ! Why have I known 
Thee so late!" 

13. During the reign of the Emperor Galerius^ 
thirty men and seventeen women were arrested in 
the city of Aluta, in Africa, for having heard Mass 
contrary to the orders of the Emperor. While on 
their way to Carthage they never ceased singing 
hymns of praise in honor of God. Having arrived 
at Carthage, where they were to be tried before the 
Emperor, an officer of the guard said : '' Behold, 
Emperor, these impious Christians, whom we 
have arrested at Aluta for having heard Mass con- 
trary to the orders of your Majesty.'' The Em- 
peror at once had one of them stripped of his 
clothes, placed on the rack, and his flesh torn to 
pieces. Meanwhile, one of the Christians, Telica 
by name, cried out in a loud voice, ^^Why, 
tyrant, do you put but one of us to the rack, whilst 
we are all Christians, and all of us heard Mass at 
the same time.'' At once the judge treated this 
one just as cruelly as the other, saying, '^ Who ' 
was the author of your meeting?" '' Saturninus,, 
the priest," replied the Christians, '^ and we all 
together ; but you^ imj)ious wretch, act most 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 349 

unjustly towards us. We are neither murderers nor 
robbers, nor have we done any harm.'' The judge 
said, ^^ You should have obeyed our orders, and 
remained away from your false worship.'' Telica 
replied, ^' I obey the orders of the. true God, for 
which I am ready to die." Then, by the Emperor's 
orders, Telica was taken off the rack and thrown 
into prison. 

After this the brother of St. Victoria came forth 
accusing Datiorus for having taken his sister, Vic- 
toria, to Mass. But the Saint replied, ^^ Not by 
the permission of man, but of my own accord, I 
went to hear Mass. I am a Christian^ and^ as 
such, I am bound to obey the laws of Christ." Her 
brother replied, ^^ You are crazy, and talk like a 
crazy woman." She said, ^^ I am not crazy, but I 
am a Christian." The Emperor asked her, ^^ Do 
you wish to return home with your brother?" She 
answered, ^^No, I will not; I take those for my 
brothers and sisters who are Christians like me, and 
suffer for Jesus Christ." The Emperor said, ^^ Save 
your life and follow your brother." She answered, 
^^I will not leave my brothers and sisters, for I 
confess to you that I heard Mass with them, and 
received Holy Communion." The judge then 
tried every means to make her apostatize, for 
she was very beautiful, and the daughter of one 
of ^the noblest families of the city. When her 
parents wanted to force her to marry, she jumped 
out of the window and had her hair cut off. 
30 



350 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

Then the judge addressed the priest Saturninus, 
saying, '' Did you, contrary to our orders, call 
these Christians to a meeting?'' The priest re- 
plied, '^ I called them in obedience to the law of 
God^ to meet for His service/' The Emperor then 
asked, '^ Why did you do this?" Saturninus re- 
plied, '^Because we are forbidden to stay away 
from Mass." ^^Are you, then, the author of this 
meeting?" asked the Emperor. ^^ I am," said the 
priest, ^^ and I myself said the Mass." Upon this, 
the priest was taken and put to the rack, and his 
flesh torn by sharp iron points, so much so that his 
entrails could be seen ; finally he was thrown into 
prison. 

After this St. Emericus was tried. ^^ Who are 
you?" he was asked. ^' I am the author of this 
meeting," he replied, '^ for the Mass was celebrated 
in my house." ^*' Why did you," said the Em- 
peror, ^'permit them, contrary to our orders, to 
enter your house?" ''Because they are my 
brothers," said Emericus, '-and we cannot do 
without Mass." Then his flesh was also mangled, 
after which he was led to prison to the other 
martyrs. 

The judge then said to the other Christians : 
^^ You have seen how your companions have been 
treated ; I hope you will have pity on yourselves, 
and save your lives." ''We are all Christians," 
they cried out with one voice, "and we will keep 
the law of Christ, being ready to shed our blood 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 351 

for it/' Then the iniquitous judge said to one of 
them named Felix^ ^^ I do not ask you whether 
you are a Christian, but whether ^ou were present 
at this meeting/and heard Mass ?'' ^^ What foolish 
question is this/' replied Felix; ^^ just as if Chris- 
tians could do without Mass ; incarnate devil, I 
tell you that we were very devout at the meeting, 
and prayed most fervently during the holy Sacri- 
fice/' At these words, the tyrant felt so much en- 
raged that he knocked the holy martyr down, and 
beat him till he expired. The remainder of the 
Christians were also thrown into prison, where they 
died from starvation. (Baronius.) 

14. It is related in the life of St. John a Facundo, 
O.S.A., that he was unusually long in saying his 
Mass. For this, reason no one liked to serve it. 
His Prior told him that he must not be longer in 
saying his Mass than were the other priests. He 
tried to obey, but finding obedience in this point so 
extremely difficult, he begged his Prior to permit 
him to say his Mass in the same manner as for- 
merly. After hearing his reasons, the Priol- most 
willingly granted this permission. With John's 
leave, he told these reasons to the brothers of the 
convent. They were the following : ^^ Believe me," 
he said, ''that Father John's Mass lasts so long 
because God bestows on him the privilege of seeing 
the mysteries of the Hol}^ Sacrifice, which are so 
sublime that no human mind can understand them. 
Of these mysteries he told me things so sublime 



352 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

that I was overwhelmed with holy awe, and almost 
beside myself. Believe me, Jesus Christ shows 
Himself to this Father in a most wonderful manner, 
converses with Him most sweetly, and sends forth 
upon him from His wounds a heavenly light and 
splendor so refreshing for both body and soul that 
he might live without any other nourishment. 
Father John also sees the body of Jesus Christ in 
its heavenly glory and beauty shining like a most 
brilliant sun. Now, considering how great and how 
unspeakably sublime the graces and favors are which 
men derive from saying Mass^ or, from hearing it, 
I have firmly resolved never to omit saying or hear- 
ing Mass, and will exhort others to do the same.'' 
(Mensehen in Act. Sanct., Ad. xii., Diem Juni.) 

15. Bollandus relates of St. Coleta, that one day, 
when she was hearing the Mass of her confessor, 
she suddenly exclaimed at the elevation: ^^My 
God ! Jesus ! ye Angels and Saints ! ye men 
and sinners, behold the great marvels !'' After the 
Mass her confessor asked her why she had wept so 
bitterly and uttered such pitiable cries. ^^ Had 
your Keverence,'' she said, ^^ heard and seen the 
things which I heard and saw, perhaps you would 
have wept, and exclaimed more than I have done.'' 
'^ What was it that you saw?" asked her confessor 
further. ^^ Although that which I heard and saw," 
she replied, ^^is so sublime and so divine that no 
.man can ever find words to express it in a becoming 
manner, yet I will endeavor to describe it to your 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 353 

Reverence as well as my feeble language will per- 
mit. When your Reverence was raising tlie Sacred 
Host I saw our Lord Jesus Christ as if hanging on 
the cross, shedding His Blood, and praying to His 
heavenly Father in most lamentable accents : ' Be- 
hold, My Father, in what condition I was once 
hanging on the cross and suffering for the redemp- 
tion of the world. Behold My wounds. My suffer- 
ings, My death : I have suffered all this in order 
that poor sinners might not be lost. But now Thou 
wilt send them to hell for their sins. What good, 
then, will result from my sufferings and cruel death ? 
Those damned souls^, when in hell, instead of thank- 
ing Me for My Passion, will only curse Me for it ; 
but should they be saved, they would bless Me for 
all eternity. I beseech Thee, My Father, to spare 
poor sinners and to forgive them for My sake ; and, 
for the sake of My Passion, preserve them from be- 
ing damned forever.'' 

16. A most remarkable miracle happened at Wal- 
duren in the year 1330. A priest named Otto, 
during the celebration of his Mass, accidentally up- 
set the chalice after the Consecration, and the Sa- 
cred Blood was spilt upon the corporal. All at 
once there appeared upon the corporal the figure of 
Jesus Christ hanging on the cross^ and around it 
twelve figures of the sacred head crowned with 
thorns and disfigured with blood. The priest was 
frightened almost to death, and endeavored to con- 
ceal the accident by hiding the corporal in the altar. 
*30 



354 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

When this priest was lying on his death-bed his 
agony was unusually great and horrifying. Think- 
ing that his great sufferings were caused on account 
of his having so concealed the corporal, he called 
for a priest, to whom he made his confession, ask- 
ing him to look for the corporal, and giving him 
permission to reveal the miraculous fact. The cor- 
poral was found and forwarded to Pope Urban V., 
who confirmed the miracle as being authentic. This 
event is well known throughout Germany. 

17. A similar miracle occurred during the time 
of Pope Urban IV. ^ in the year 1263, at Vulsia^ a 
towm not far from Eome. A certain priest having 
pronounced the words of Consecration over the 
bread at Mass, had a temptation against faith, the 
devil suggesting to him the doubt how Jesus Christ 
could be present in the Host, when he could see 
nothing of Him. He consented to the temptation, 
but, nevertheless, continued saying the Mass. Now^ 
at the elevationi of the sacred host, behold, he and 
all the people who were present, saw blood flowing 
abundantly from the Host down upon the altar. 
Some cried out : ^^0 sacred blood ! what does this 
mean ? divine blood ! who is the cause of Thy 
being shed?" Others prayed: ^' sacred blood! 
come down upon our souls and purify them from the 
stains of sin.'' Others beat their breasts and shed 
tears of sorrow for their sins. When Mass was 
over, the people all rushed to the sacristy in order 
to learn from the priest what had happened during 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 355 

his Mass. He showed them the corporal all stained 
with the sacred blood, and when they beheld it, 
they fell upon their knees imploring the Divine 
mercy. The miracle became known all over the 
country, and many persons hastened to Vulsia to 
see the miraculous corporal. Pope Urban IV. called 
the priest thither, who came, confessed his sin, and 
showed the corporal. On beholding it, the Pope, 
Cardinals, and all the clergy, knelt down, adored 
the blood, and kissed the corporal. The Pope or- 
dered a church to be built at Vulsia in honor of the 
sacred blood, and ordered the corporal to be carried 
in solemn procession on the anniversary of the day 
on which the miracle occurred. (Platinas' Life of 
Urban IV.) 

18. St. Dominic was once saying Mass in London, 
England, in the presence of the King and Queen 
and three hundred other persons. As he was 
making the memento for the living, he suddenly 
became enraptured, remaining motionless for the 
space of a whole hour. All present were greatly 
astonished, and did not know what to think or to 
make of it. The king ordered the Server to pull 
the priest's robe, that he might go on with his Mass. 
But on attempting to do so, the Server became so 
terribly frightened that he was unable to comply with 
the king's order. After an hour's time, St. Dominic 
was uble to continue the Mass, when, behold! at 
the elevation of the Sacred Host, the king and all 
who were present saw, instead of the Host in the 



356 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST 

hands of the priest, the holy Infant Jesus, at the 
sight of which all experienced great interior joy. 
At the same time they beheld the Mother of God in 
great brilliancy and splendor, and surrounded by 
twelve bright stars. She took the hand of her 
Divine Infant to bless with it all those who were 
present at the Mass. At this blessing many expe- 
rienced an ineffable joy, and shed tears of tender- 
ness. At the elevation of the chalice every one 
saw a cross uprising from it, with Jesus Christ 
hanging upon it in a most pitiable condition, and 
shedding all His Blood. The Blessed Virgin was 
also seen sprinklings as it were, the sacred blood 
over the people, upon which every one received a 
clear knowledge of his sins, and a deep sorrow for 
the same, so much so that every one who saw them 
could not help weeping with them. 

Mass being ended, St. Dominic ascended the pul- 
pit^ and addressed the people as follows: '^ Sing 
ye to the Lord a new Canticle, because he hath 
done wonderful things.'' (Ps. 97.) '^ You all have 
seen with your own eyes, and experienced in your 
own hearts, the wonderful things which Jesus 
Christ has done in the Most Blessed Sacrament. 
Tou have seen with your eyes, and it has been given 
to you to understand how Jesus Christ, the Saviour 
of the world and the son of Mary, has been pleased 
to be born anew, and to be again crucified for y'ou. 
In this divine and tremendous mystery of holy 
Mass, you have witnessed only things most holy, 



OUR GREATEST TREASURE. 357 

most sublime, most consoling, and most toncbing. 
It is not only one or a few of you wbo bave seen 
tbese wonderful tbings, but tbe entire tbree bun- 
dred bere assembled bave witnessed tbem. Now, if 
tbere be but one little spark of divine love in your 
hearts, sentiments of gratitude and bymns of praise 
in honor of tbe Divine goodness and Majesty ought 
to flow incessantly from your lips. (Ex. lib. inter. 
B. Alanus rediv., par. 3, chap. 22.) 

19. It is related of Drabomira, tbe mother of St. 
Wenceslaus^ — a very impious Duchess of Bohemia, 
— how she one day went in her carriage to Saes, in 
order to take a solemn oath on her father's grave to 
extirpate all tbe Christians in her dominions. Pass- 
ing a chapel in which Mass was being said, the 
driver, hearing the bell ringing for the elevation, 
alighted from his horse and knelt down reverently 
to adore our Lord Jesus Christ on the altar. At 
this the impious Duchess flew into a violent passion, 
cursing the driver and tbe Blessed Sacrament. In 
punishment for her horrible blasphemies, the earth 
opened and swallowed her and her w^hole escort. 
Tbey cried for help, but in vain. In a moment 
they were gone forever. The driver rejoiced in- 
deed, for having alighted from his horse to adore 
the Blessed Sacrament ; his faith and devotion 
saving him from destruction. (Hagec. in Chronic. 
Bohemie, ad. ann. 930.) 

20. Tbe Albigenses, certain heretics, who arose 
in the beginning of tbe twelfth century, forbade 



358 THE BLESSED EUCHARIST. 

any priest, under great penalty, to say what they 
called a pjnvate Mass, Having learned that a cer- 
tain priest had said Mass contrary to their orders, 
they arrested him, saying : '^ We have been told 
that you have said a private Mass, notwithstanding 
our strict orders to the contrary. Is this true?" 
Without fear the priest replied as did the Apostles 
when before the Jewish Council : '^ We must be 
more obedient to God than to men ; for this reason 
I have said Mass in honor of God and the Blessed 
Virgin, notwithstanding your unjust orders." En- 
raged by this answer, they beat the pious priest and 
pulled out his tongue. The servant of God suffered 
this most cruel pain very patiently. He went to 
the Church, and there he knelt before the altar of 
the Blessed Virgin, praying with his heart to the 
Mother of God to restore his tongue. The Blessed 
Virgin appeared to him with his tongue in her hand, 
saying, ^^ On account of the honor which you have 
rendered to God and to me by saying Mass, I here- 
with restore your tongue, requesting you at the 
same time to continue to say Mass," He thanked 
the Mother of God for this blessing, and, returning 
to the people, he showed them his tongue, and 
confounded the enemies of Mass. (Cesarius of 
Heisterbach, who protests in his book that he has 
written nothing which he did not see himself, or 
hear from such witnesses as would be willing rather 
to die than tell a lie.) 



Of TJianksffiving to Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, 



1. Sweet Jesus, hid for love of me, 
How shall I render thanks to Thee ? 
Ah ! would that my poor love could be 
The half of that Thou'st shown for me ! 

2. What wondrous act is this of Thine, 
To make Thyself so wholly mine ? 

My food, great God, Thou deign'st to be, 
To show how well Thou lovest me ! 

3. Lord Jesus, come, I beg of Thee, 

And with Thy grace pray strengthen me. 
For Thee alone my heart doth beat — 
Ah ! make of it Thy mercy-seat. 

4. E'en as the thirsty stag doth fly 
To running brook, so, Lord, do I 
With longing heart pant after Thee ; 
Then, come, sweet Jesus, come to me ! 

5. Ah ! hasten. Lord, make no delay ! 
Come, wed my heart this very day. 
That thus united here below, 

I may not fear eternal woe. 

6. With steadfast faith I cHng to Thee, 
And press Thee, Lord, most tenderly 
Unto my weak and sinful heart. 

Well pleased to claim Thee as my part. 

7. Now, Thou art mine and I am Thine ! 
Ah ! mortal words can ne^'er define 
My happiness thus close to be 
United, dearest Lord, with Thee. 



\ 

360 OBLATION. 

8. By day and night I'll sing Thy praise, 
My voice in grateful anthems raise, 
To thee, dear Shepherd of my soul, 

Nor shrink beneath Thy meek control. 

9. This passing life sufhceth not 
To thank Thee for my happy lot, 
So favor'd by Thy love to be — 
Ah ! Lord, 'twill take eternity. 

10. Had I a thousand lives to lay 
In sacrifice each dawning day. 
It would, most holy, gracious Lord, 
Be for thy love a poor reward. 

IL I cannot love Thee as I should. 
Nor even as my poor heart would. 
For pardon, then, I humbly crave. 
And beg Thee, still, my soul to save. 

12. Lord Jesus Christ, for Thee I live. 
Lord Jesus Christ, I beg Thee, give 
Me grace to die thro' love of Thee, 
And be Thine own eternally ! 



OBLAT ION. 

I offer Thee this book, Lord Jesus Christ, Fount of eternal lights 
in union with that ineffable charity which moved Thee, the only- 
begotten of the Father, in the plenitude of the Divinity, to take 
upon Thyself our nature and to become man, I beseech Thee to take 
it into Thy divine keeping, that it may glorify Thy divine bounty 
towards us, vile creatures that we are. And since Thou, the Al- 
mighty Dispenser of all good things, dost vouchsafe to nourish us 
during our exile, until, beholding Thy glory with unveiled coun- 
tenance, we are transformed into Thee, grant, I beseech Thee, to 
all who read these writings with humility, that they may be 
charmed with the sweetness of Thy charity and inwardly drawn 
to desire the same for their furtherance in perfection, so that, ele- 
vating their hearts towards Thee with burning love, they may be 
like so many golden censers, whose sweet odors shall abundantly 
supply all my negligence and ingratitude. 

Dear Mother Mary, do thou also pray to thy Divine Son for all 
those who may read this little book. 



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highly recommended by all who have examined them. 

Though in language and style, in accordance with the language and 
ideas of the young, they will be read with interest by the old. They con- 
tain a great number of stories and examples from Holy Scripture, Lives of 
the Saints, etc.; with explanations, by means of those objects only with 
which children are familiar. 

A Most Useful and Interesting Catholic Tale: 

One Vol. 12mo., Cloth, $1.25; Cloth, Full Gilt, $1.75. 

THE MASSINGERS; or, The Evils of Mixed Marriages. Dedicated, 
by permission, to His Eminence Cardinal Wiseman. 



Publications of Kelly & Piet, Baltimore. 7 

Standard Catholic Periodicals. 

THE CATHOLIC MIBBOIl: Official Organ of the Most 

Reverend Archbishop of Baltimore, and the Right Rev. 

Bishops of Richmond and Wheeling. 

PUBLISHED WEEKLY AT 174 BALTIMORE STREET, BALTIMORE. 

Jjetter of Recomntendation frotn A.rc7ibishop Spalding. 

Having been much pleased with the efforts made, at the beginning of the 
present year, to increase the interest and extend the circulation of the Catholic 
Mirror, we take much pleasure in again warmly recommending it to Our faithful 
people. Able correspondents have been secured both in Europe and in 
America, and other measures have been adopted by the enterprising proprie- 
tors, to make the Mirror in every way worthy the patronage of Catholics ; and 
We cherish the hope that it will soon become the model Catholic newspaper of 
the country. An important means for securing this most desirable end would 
be such an increase of its subscription list as would encourage the publishers 
to incur the necessary additional expense for correspondents, and so to increase 
its dimensions as fully to meet the expectations of its patrons, and the require- 
ments of the age. We trust that such will be the case. 

M. J. SPALDING, Archbishop of Baltimore. 
Baltimore, January 1, 1807. 

Terms of Subscription: 

To Subscribers, delivered by Carrier, in Advance.. , .$3.50 per Annum* 
To Mail Subscribers, in advance , 3.00 ** ^* 

To Clubs: 

THE MIRROR WILL BE FURNISHED TO CLUBS AT THE FOLLOWING RATES : 

Three Copies Mailed to One Address $7. SO 

Five *( *< *i ii 10.00 

The Postage on the Mirror is 20 Cents per Year. 

Ko notice will be taJcen of any order unless the money accompanies it. 

Since the enlargement of the Catholic Mirror, it ranks among the largest 
Catholic Weeklies in the United States. It aims at being orthodox and Catholic 
in its character and tone, and seeks to conjoin its opinions and selections to the 
spirit and teachings of our holy religion. Its chief object is to explain Catholic 
doctrine, to correct misrepresentations of the enemies of our Faith, and to pro- 
mote Christian Mo^alit3^ The publication of Religious News, Foreign as well as 
Domestic; a Synopsis of all important Secular Intelligence; the dissemination 
of Literary and Scientific information; the support and diffusion of Sound Prin- 
ciples affecting the Living Questions of the Age ; the insertion of Tales of Good 
Moral Tone, and other light reading of acknowledged merit and healthful 
tendency, are also embraced within the scope of this paper. The study of the 
proprietors will be constantly directed to the improvement of the Mirror. 
They will spare no expense consistent with the patronage it receives, to make it 
agreeable to its subscribers and acceptable to those distinguished dignitaries of 
the Church who have kindly adopted it as their official organ. 

KELLY & PIET, Publishers and Proprietors, 

174: JBaltiniore Street, Baltimore, 



FOREIGN NEWSPAPERS and MAGAZINES. 

KELLY & PIET having been appointed the authorized Agents for the 
following Periodicals, feel a great gratification in being able to offer these 
valuable and interesting Journals to the Catholics of the United States at 
such low rates, and hope for a liberal encouragement. 

The Weekly (London) Register, for $10 per Year, U. S. Currency. 
The Weekly Register and Catholic Standard. A first-class Family 
Newspaper. Established 1849. The Weekly Register reports fully 
the Catholic and general news of the week. Particular attention is 
devoted to Foreign and English Literature. 

The Westminster Gazette for $10, (U. S. Currency). Published 
Every Saturday in London. The New Catholic Weekly Paper, "The 
Westminster Gazette," supported by a large number of known and 
approved Writers, English and Foreign. Its two main objects are, first, 
the exposition of Catholic Principles on all those great questions — 
ecclesiastical, philosophical, and social — which are now agitating the 
intellect and heart of the country; and, secondly, a truthful statement 
of facts as to the condition, political and religious, of Catholicism in 
the various countries of Europe. An important feature of the Gazette 
is the large space especially allotted to reviews of Books, both English 
and Foreign, non-Catholic as well as Catholic. 

The Month. A Magazine and Review, edited by the Jesuit Fathers in 

London. Published on the first of each month. 

In order to increase the circulation of this interesting Monthly in the 
United States, we have made arrangements by which we can supply it at 
the low price of five dollars per year, in advance, for United States cur- 
rency. It contains articles on Literature, Art, Science, Philosophy, His- 
tory and Theology, Reviews of Books, Original Fiction, and Poetry. 

^^^ Subscription price of The Month reduced to Five Dollars per year^ 
commencing with Volume 1, July number. 
The Lamp. An Illustrated Monthly Journal of General Literature. 

Subscription $3 in U. S. Currency. 
The Dublin (Quarterly) Review, for $10 per Year, U. S. Currency. 

This sterling Catholic Quarterly commences the Ninth Volume with the 

July number. 
Etudes Religieuses, Historiques et Litteraires. Par des Peres de la 

Compagnie de Jesus. Published Monthly ; $8 per year. 
Revue des Questions Historiques. (Quarterly); $12 per year. 
Le Contemporain : Revue d'Economie Chretienne. Litterature, His- 

toire, Philosophic, Science, Theologie, Beaux-Arts, Voyages, Economie 

Charitable, Bibliographic, etc. Published Monthly ; $12 per year. 

SPECIAL ATTENTION GIVEN TO THE IMPORTATION OF 
FOREIGN PUBLICATIONS. 

KELLY & PIET, 

Publishers, Booksellers, Printers and Stationers, 

174 BAZTIMORE ST.. BAZTIMOBE. 



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